First road trip with my 69 charger (Gone wrong)

[Michael_]

I'm regularly watching Vice Grip Garage, the guy that drives cars which sat in a field and haven't run in 10, 20, 30 years for hundreds of miles
after doing some basic stuff to get them running and braking.

Well my car hasn't been sitting in a field or not been running in 30 years.
It still needs a few things.

But we have been fixing it to the point where i was confident to take it for the first somewhat bigger trip this weekend.
Unfortunately i wasn't able to get far.

I started hearing some "whining noises" which i thought is maybe the alternator going out, but then a few miles later
i heard some loud noises, a "bang", like something was falling off. This is when my power steering stopped working.

I stopped at the next layby, openend the hood with the engine still running and saw that it threw a belt.
It seems like this belt was driving both the alternator and power steering pump.
I have also seen some coolant in the engine bay but couldn't see where it was coming from with the engine temperature still ok.

So now the fun part began, i had to drive about 1 hour in this condition AT NIGHT!
This is when i started hoping that the battery is in immaculate shape and the coolant leak is minor!

It was dangerous to say the least since i could not see a lot because of the lights getting low.
Almost had a meeting with a tractor that i saw coming way to late! Got really lucky there!
But i had an appointment and was already late so i had to get back to my house to pickup the cutlass ASAP.

So back home when i shut it off a few minutes later it started "fogging" under the hood. (Vaporated coolant)
I could not see where that coolant fog was coming from. Water pump looks decent, upper/lower radiator hose also and could not
see it coming from the radiator. Any bets there?

Shortly after that it leaked A LOT of coolant to the ground/street. Again i dont know where it is leaking at this point.
The car did not overheat while driving. Its gone up some more when i was driving slow once but nothing dangerous.
I tried to drive as fast as possible to keep temps down.

I also guess either the alternator or power steering pump seized causing the belt to snap off.
How can i check if the alternator and/or power steering pump is seized?

 

[chtampa]

The "whining" shows that you obviously have a female car and it will never be happy no matter what you do for it.

 

[OKDart]

I can’t think of a scenario where one belt drives both the alternator and the power steering pump. They are on opposite sides of the engine after all.
The coolant most likely came from the overboard vent on the filler neck. Or maybe from the weep hole on the bottom of the water pump, if the water pump seized and broke the belts, that would explain loosing both alternator and power steering

 

[R413]

I have questions of the story:
1) You drove it for an hour with the belts off?
2) Did the water pump had a belt on it for the drive?


Is the a factory A/C car or just a plain heater?

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

SUM TING WONG

 

[Kern Dog]

In factory setups, the fan, alternator and crank are on one belt in NON A/C cars.

The power steering belt only affects the crank and the P/S pulley.

 

[1967coronet]

As far as checking the alternator and steering pump for bad bearings just rotate the pulley on each by hand.
You should be able to feel any bad bearings.

 

[Michael_]

I can’t think of a scenario where one belt drives both the alternator and the power steering pump. They are on opposite sides of the engine after all.

Maybe it threw multiple belts. It was dark i will recheck in daylight. (Hopefully tomorrow)

The coolant most likely came from the overboard vent on the filler neck.

I dont think so. There is a hose attached which i attached to a bottle.

Or maybe from the weep hole on the bottom of the water pump

I haven't seen anything leaking from the water pump but will recheck.

if the water pump seized and broke the belts, that would explain loosing both alternator and power steering

I was driving 40 minutes after the belt(s) came off without serious overheating, most of the time no overheating at all.
So i dont really think the water pump is bad?

I have questions of the story:
1) You drove it for an hour with the belts off?
2) Did the water pump had a belt on it for the drive?


Is the a factory A/C car or just a plain heater?

1) Checking Phone call times it was more like 40 minutes.

2) I only noticed the alternator and power steering has no belt on it. I'm not 100% sure on the water pump (will recheck) but i'm pretty sure the water pump was still working/driven because i was driving
40 minutes without serious overheating, most of the time no overheating at all.

3) It is a factory A/C car.

-----

I will do some further inspection asap, hopefully tomorrow.

 

[R413]

Do you have an engine photo before this happened so you can see where the bets went?

Factory did it this way, who knows what you have now.

A factory A/C car has a single belt that drives the water pump only. It goes around an adjuster pulley to tighten the belt.

alt is driven by 2 belts from crank to AC to alt.

PS has a belt from crank to PS only.

 

[Michael_]

Do you have an engine photo before this happened so you can see where the bets went?

I unfortunately have no picture where you can see the belts and pulleys.

 

[66 Sat]

How about this one, from your photo garage - shows part of your set-up.

 

[Michael_]

How about this one, from your photo garage - shows part of your set-up.

Yes i thought about that but you can't really see a lot of the belts and pulleys.
I also added a fan shroud by now.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

The way the belts are on an A/C big block in 69-71 the water pump is driven by a short belt that turns the water pump & an idler, it's driven by the crank... A pair of belts run the A/C & alternator & a separate belt runs the PS... Likely the noise was an alternator bearing & it locked kicking the two belts which got into the P/S belt taking it out.... The W/P belt is so short it rarely gets taken out...

These photos are my Challenger but the brackets & pulleys should be the same....

 

[Mike67]

First off don't gauge reality compared to tv, after all, they wouldn't have a show if they couldn't get those cars "running" long enough to make a 20 minute episode.
Secondly I think I would get an additional temp gauge if you were blowing steam and the factory gauge did not show an overheating condition.

 

[RGAZ]

Secondly I think I would get an additional temp gauge if you were blowing steam and the factory gauge did not show an overheating condition.

I agree with Mike67, but lets find where the leak is coming from. Could you have popped the rad cap and it leaked from the overpressure? Could you have a leak in the heater core? I think you overheated and did not know it and something had to give.

RGAZ

 

[Michael_]

So today i did some further inspection and yes it threw multiple belts, not just one.
Basically the only belt still on is the water pump belt!
I think it is the factory setup, i attached some pictures.

I turned the alternator and power steering pulley by hand and it spins very easy. No noises, no nothing...
I really expected one of them to be locked but it seems like that is not the case.
Maybe it was a real bad chain reaction when one belt snaped off due to age?
Maybe the whining comes from the transmission? I mean why not a transmission rebuild.

It was already late, dark and slowly starting to rain so i did not do any further inspection.
I will charge the batterie, inspect the coolant (if there is rust or anything in it) & order some new belts asap.
I will also fill it up with coolant and let it run until it reaches operating temperature and see if and where it starts leaking coolant since the water pump belt is still on.

Is there a belt kit available?
Probably not because some cars had a/c and power steering and some not?
But i basically need ALL belts and i dont exactly know which ones especially since 2 are missing completely.

I also hope there are good instructions on how to change belts in the service manual. Looking at the lack of space it doesn't look like a lot of fun already.

First off don't gauge reality compared to tv, after all, they wouldn't have a show if they couldn't get those cars "running" long enough to make a 20 minute episode.

Its "just" youtube but probably still not everything real.

Secondly I think I would get an additional temp gauge if you were blowing steam and the factory gauge did not show an overheating condition.

I think you overheated and did not know it and something had to give.

I think the gauge is good.
I often double checked with an infrared thermometer in the past and it always was spot on.
I didn't loose a lot of coolant before i shut it off when i was back home. It also did not blow steam before that.

Could you have popped the rad cap and it leaked from the overpressure?

Doesn't really look like it but i dont know anything for sure yet.

Could you have a leak in the heater core?

Its currently bypassed.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

What you need... These are Gates numbers...

7590 This is the A/C & alt so you need two of them..

7360 This is the W/P belt which you still have but replace it anyway...

7425 This is the P/S belt..

FWIW belts are cheap, if you want to drive that Charger around in Germany I'd suggest ordering a set of spares to keep in the trunk... That way you'll never need them...

 

[1 Wild R/T]

One thing I forgot to mention... Your A/C pulley is the less common design so the belt # I posted may be to short... But It's the normal A/C belt for a 440...

 

[Michael_]

One thing I forgot to mention... Your A/C pulley is the less common design so the belt # I posted may be to short... But It's the normal A/C belt for a 440...

I will wait with my order until i know where the coolant leak is coming from. Maybe i need something else too.
So if somebody knows for a fact if this (or what other) belt fits please let me know!

And yes i will order some spares

 

[1 Wild R/T]

@Richard Cranium I know your a 68 guy but do you know if that clutch/pulley is normal on a Charger?