Topic: Mustang Hose Woes

[timsweet]

Average Guy's Car Restoration, Mods and Racing
http://timsweet.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/mustang-hose-woes/

I was about to start the pillar moldings mini project when I ran into a couple mechanical issues.

About a week ago the Mustang began squealing when pushed to high revs.  That normally indicates one of several problems.

1. It could be a water pump

2.  It could be the power steering pump

3.  It could be a pulley

4. It could be a bolt that was holding the alternator bracket to the engine worked itself out and was in contact with the fan belt.

5. It could be a combination of the any of these.

Now the Mustang did, every once in a while, drip some fluid from the power steering control value but it wasn’t a huge deal.

Well, Saturday I when to start her and the battery was dead.  It’s over 3 years old and I had left the lights on the day before and had to have it jump started.  So off to the auto parts store I went and pick up a new 3 year battery and stuck it. When I started the engine up, it made the squeal and I decided I needed to fix this, before the pillar molding.

So with a neighbor revving the engine I noticed the bolt protruding from the water pump/block ( it passes through left side water pump housing in to the block).  With the revs the fan belt would flex and briefly hit the bolt.   This bolt was “custom” made when we were fitting everything up to reman’ed long block and was about 7 or 8 inches long.

It took a bit to get that back in place, had to loosen up the alternator’s other two supports and toss a little loctite on the threads and she was good to go…..almost…..

Yeah….option #5 above was the correct answer BTW.

Started it up and there was still a squeal – not the same squeal but clearly an ‘accompaning’ squeal.  Shortly after that a power steering hose let go and well liquid does what gravity  make it do and I spent the afternoon cleaning the driveway.  So there went my allotted time for Saturday.   So replacing both hoses seem the best way to go and they’ll  be in today.  Right now it’s at the shop down the street, I had no time to undertake this task at the moment, will be traveling the next couple weeks.

One of my travels takes me to the National Corvette Museum.  I’ll spend an entire day there which include the assembly plant tour.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

[Soaring]

When mine squeals from time to time, my first suspicion is the alternator belt is not tight enough, and the belt squeals.  It's hard to get the alternator belt tight enough on my 65 because there is nothing solid under the alternator to use a crow bar or 2X4.  I finally muscled it tight enough so it doesn't squeal anymore, but I used to use a spray belt dressing.  That stuff only lasts for a few days. 
Sounds like you have yours under control though.  Keep us posted, and enjoy the trip. 

[timsweet]

Same problem with the 70. But I'm working on a solution.  It's not an original idea, i saw it on a show car some time ago. It was a custom bracket using the same bolt that the current brackets use now but it has threaded rod that will push the alternation back to tighten.

I'll post up pics as we get into.  Right now my neighbor and I are fabricating it. (He has the torches to do the work necessary.

[Soaring]

Great!  I would love to have one of those brackets where you can put a socket on the expansion bolt and crank it down to where the alternator belt is tight.  That would be a great marketing scheme. 

[66GTKFB]

I got my belt tensioner at JC Whitney. It's cheap but it works. I don't think they carry it anymore but I prefer a long pry bar anyway.
Jim

[Soaring]

The problem with the long pry bar is that there is nothing to hook it to on the engine side of my 65.  The radiator hose gets in the way, and there is no "lip" I can hook up to get any leverage.