Electric Assist Project: E-charger (2000 Subaru Outback)

[ShadeTreeMech]

The suspense is kILLING ME!!!! You mentioned not yet having the batteries, I think you have the controller, do you have the cables and associated various connectors?

The countdown to an electric motor start sans the starter is getting closer!

How did you get the idler pulley out of the way of the belt?

[brucey]

I've got the small wiring, the controller, the throttle, the contactor, the instrumentation. I just haven't installed them.

I was planning on going front to back and tackling one section at a time. (:

All I need to buy is the big wires (battery to controller, controller to motor) and the batteries themselves.

To get the idler pulley out of it's own way I simply moved it up ~.5" This makes it closer than I'd like to the radiator hose, but it's still got about .25" of clearance. Which is enough.

[ShadeTreeMech]

.....I am wishing WV wasn't so far away now......
This is becoming an epic build thread IMHO!

[brucey]

Success!

And failure.

Drove to the next town over to pick up the belt I needed, as nobody in town had it.
Fit it on the car, started it up. It spun! It was great. A little bit loose, but I couldn't get it more taught because the locking bolt on the alternator would start rubbing on the belt.

The first time I started it, the belt jumped a groove or 2 at the power steering pulley, so I turned it off and reset it. This time it didn't jump though.

So I decided to give it a test run, drove back home.

1 mile from my house I hear a thunk, my power steering goes out, and I know instantly what has happened.

Luckily, I had the original belt and tools still with me and just changed it back over in the first parking lot I saw.

*Sigh*

My brand new 5 rib is now a 3.5 rib belt, I decided to throw it on for ****s and giggles to see if I could replicate the problem without buying another 25$ belt, but it just instantly threw it as soon as the engine cranks.

The plan now is to move the idler pulley back down as close as possible to itself and hopefully give the P/S pulley room enough so it doesen't walk out. I'm thinking the PS pulley is where it walked out again and just tore itself up as I drove along.

[brucey]

Found the problem I think.

The ribs on the alternator, PS, and charger are slightly off. Maybe 1 whole rib if that.

This explains why it was walking out. Dumb belt, dumb me. At least this isn't that big of an issue to line it up. I simply take the pulley off, put on an extra spacer, and reassemble it.

Short term however, since the pulley on the charger is 10 rib, and the rest are 5, I can just move the belt where I need it on the pulley.

New belt. Again. Tomorrow.

[brucey]

New belt is on, and even with adjusting it on the e-charger the walking still continues!

I'm going to try moving the idler downward a bit to give it a little bit of room to the the PS/pulley, as its where it always jumps and I think the belt just doesent like making that tight of a turn...

It goes on straight, looks straight, but when I go to start it it jumps up a ridge every time, no matter how loose or tight I make it.



Here is a picture of this phenomenon for anyone smarter than me.

[Clev]

Is it just me, or does it look to anyone else like the pulley underneath the rad hose is misaligned with respect to the alternator and charger?

[roflwaffle]

It does, but I think that's an artifact of the flash.

[dcb]

Hey Bruce, is it possible to observe if your bracketing or the motor is moving while the motor is put under load?

[Dr. Jerryrigger]

Is the idler just a smooth roller, or does it have a lip the belt sits in? If it's smooth than it will walk as much as things are out of alignment, every revolution, until that adds up to a length that will do something. One thing that may be ****ing things up could be the idler hole not being 90deg, a fraction of a degree could mess things up.
The best advice I can give is to look at the pulley on your accessories. They all have a lip which keeps the belt from walking. Getting things lined up as best you can would be a good objective, but I don't think you'll be able to get things close enough to prevent walking with out something physically blocking it.