I need some advice/help with a problem.  In preparing for a long trip this
summer which could amount to about 12,000-14,000 miles,  I decided to do as
much of the preventive maintenance on our van as I could so that I would
learn more about the van and how to fix things should we have problems on
the road.  I changed the spark plugs, rotor, distributor cap, fuel filter,
air filter, oil and oil filter, and flushed the power steering, brake and
clutch systems.  As I was doing all of that, I noticed that the water
pump/alternator belt was loose and frayed a little even though it had been
changed by a real mechanic about 16,000 miles ago.  So, I ordered an A/C,
Power Steering, and Alternator belt so I could change all belts.

Before removing the belts, I noticed that the water pump, alternator belt
did not seem to line up perfectly.  The pulley for the water pump is closer
to the front of the van than the engine pulley or the alternator pulley.  In
fact, the outer lip of the water pump pulley seemed to line up almost with
the inner lip of the engine pulley.  After removing the belts, I checked the
end play in the alternator and the water pump pulleys and everything seems
really tight with no wiggle in the pulleys.

After replacing all belts, the water pump/alternator belt (ContiTech AVX
10X1110) twists and kicks off the pulley.   So, I know I either did
something wrong, or something is wrong on the van.

Facts:  Coolant has been religiously changed every two years since the van
was new.  During a fix of a leaking head gasket at about 75,000 miles, I had
a new German built water pump installed.  The van now has 116,000 miles.  No
coolant leakage around the water pump.

Can anyone give me some advice on what to check and how to check it.  Be
easy, I am not a mechanic, just someone who is learning.

Thanks,

Harold

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Harold & Faye Teer
1991 Westy
Harrisonburg, VA