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Old 01-12-2020, 06:38 AM   #1
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Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Freedom Field, New Mexico
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Year: 1998
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Chassis: Amtrans
Engine: 444E
Rated Cap: 84 pas
Stranded Serpentine belt off.

Just left Belen NM headed south on 10. Got a few miles when all indicators said broken belt. Alternator not working and temp climbing. Found an exit. Got to a safe spot and gave her a gander. The good news is the belt is not broken. The bad news is, the belt is off.
Too hot to poke more but once it cools down and the sun comes up, it will be time to try to figure out why it jumped and how to put it back.
1998 T444 re Amtran. With a.c. and second alternator.
Not even a clue how to get in there to mess with it. Very cramped quarters. Hoping someone might have a serpentine diagram and suggestions as to how to reach. Hope it Don't mean taking the radiator out.

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Old 01-12-2020, 07:03 AM   #2
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OK so chances are you broke an Idler pulley.. if your bus has only one serpentine for dual alternators and A/C, it likely has an aftermarket A/C system and a special belt...



there are 3 idlers.. my belt is below which is different as I only have 1 alternator and my AirCon is a separate belt...



on my diagram below.. off to the right is the air Compressor.. and my single alter is just off the left..

Click image for larger version

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the most common idler to break is the one near the right just above the white filter..

all of your pulleys should spin freely without any wobble or heaby resistance. the air brake compressor (if you have one) will be somewhat hard to turn but you should be able to turn it by hand.. .. the belt tensioner is on a big spring and you use a 1/2 breaker bar to lift it.. there should be spring tension on it.. if it just flops around or its pulley is loose then the spring broke in the tensioner..



the outer rings on the A/C compressors should spin freely.. the engine pulley you cant turn by hand
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Old 01-12-2020, 07:17 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rock-N-Ruth View Post
Just left Belen NM headed south on 10. Got a few miles when all indicators said broken belt. Alternator not working and temp climbing. Found an exit. Got to a safe spot and gave her a gander. The good news is the belt is not broken. The bad news is, the belt is off.
Too hot to poke more but once it cools down and the sun comes up, it will be time to try to figure out why it jumped and how to put it back.
1998 T444 re Amtran. With a.c. and second alternator.
Not even a clue how to get in there to mess with it. Very cramped quarters. Hoping someone might have a serpentine diagram and suggestions as to how to reach. Hope it Don't mean taking the radiator out.
Check the idler pulley in the center right as well as the tensioner. If either show any wear replace them asap.
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Old 01-12-2020, 07:19 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post
OK so chances are you broke an Idler pulley.. if your bus has only one serpentine for dual alternators and A/C, it likely has an aftermarket A/C system and a special belt...



there are 3 idlers.. my belt is below which is different as I only have 1 alternator and my AirCon is a separate belt...



on my diagram below.. off to the right is the air Compressor.. and my single alter is just off the left..

Attachment 40646



the most common idler to break is the one near the right just above the white filter..

all of your pulleys should spin freely without any wobble or heaby resistance. the air brake compressor (if you have one) will be somewhat hard to turn but you should be able to turn it by hand.. .. the belt tensioner is on a big spring and you use a 1/2 breaker bar to lift it.. there should be spring tension on it.. if it just flops around or its pulley is loose then the spring broke in the tensioner..



the outer rings on the A/C compressors should spin freely.. the engine pulley you cant turn by hand
Thanks for the reply. Ill wait for the sun to come up to start poking. Do I have to pull the radiator to get at it?
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Old 01-12-2020, 07:33 AM   #5
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No you won't have to pull the radiator. Some of the pulleys are tough to reach but they're do-able. I replaced the idler and tensioner on WanderWoman's bus and it wasn't fun but totally doable by anyone.
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Old 01-12-2020, 08:46 AM   #6
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I did my TC1000 from the dog house, won't again. I'll pull the rad and cooler next time.
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Old 01-12-2020, 12:01 PM   #7
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Year: 1998
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post
OK so chances are you broke an Idler pulley.. if your bus has only one serpentine for dual alternators and A/C, it likely has an aftermarket A/C system and a special belt...



there are 3 idlers.. my belt is below which is different as I only have 1 alternator and my AirCon is a separate belt...



on my diagram below.. off to the right is the air Compressor.. and my single alter is just off the left..

Attachment 40646



the most common idler to break is the one near the right just above the white filter..

all of your pulleys should spin freely without any wobble or heaby resistance. the air brake compressor (if you have one) will be somewhat hard to turn but you should be able to turn it by hand.. .. the belt tensioner is on a big spring and you use a 1/2 breaker bar to lift it.. there should be spring tension on it.. if it just flops around or its pulley is loose then the spring broke in the tensioner..



the outer rings on the A/C compressors should spin freely.. the engine pulley you cant turn by hand
Ok. I went back to bed after my last post and I just woke up. Looks like there were two serpentine belts. A main belt and one to drive the secondary aftermarket system. The second belt is gone. The primary belt is intact but off. The idler pulley all seem to turn freely and smoothly. The water pump appears to be fine. Perhaps what happened was the secondary belt broke and dislodged the primary belt on the way out.
The good news is I have a belt that should drive the compressor, water pump and primary alternator.
A couple of downsides: I don't have a clue as to the pattern, the primary alternator is dead, the secondary alternator has a different pulley than the primary.
If I can get the belt back on I can limp home on the battery bank. On the 12v side we I have 6 deep cycle batteries and 2 starting batteries.
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Old 01-12-2020, 02:06 PM   #8
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Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Freedom Field, New Mexico
Posts: 457
Year: 1998
Coachwork: International
Chassis: Amtrans
Engine: 444E
Rated Cap: 84 pas
Thank you guys for all the suggestions. I have it together and running. The primary alternator failed some time ago and I've been using the secondary. The bad news is the pulleys have different widths. And I don't have any way to swap them.
The good news is I have a 20 solar controller or 12v I can add into my solar system on the load side. This will get us home.
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