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I don't know for sure, but looks like the alternator pulley seems to be the culprit. You look at other pulleys the belt doesn't move like on the alternator.

 

Thanks, John. Yeah I was wondering that. I did go and check it just a bit ago and it looks like it does it a little on all of the pulleys when viewed from the top. I checked the pulleys for looseness and they all seemed good but I imagine it could still be one of them. I also beginning to suspect the belt. It has the 6 ribs and they don't exactly look straight and inline with one another. Wondering if one of the ribs/"v's" may be causing it to pull to one side and then back as it goes around.

 

Yeah that pulley looks funky. Take the belt off and spin the pulley by hand to verify it’s wobbly. How’s the pulley on the original alternator?

 

Thank you. Yeah, I'm gonna give it another glance at the pulleys and check the belt again. One of the ribs near the side looks like it might not be truly parallel to the edge.

 

the belt (poorly made) may be a possibility. What brand is it?

 

Belt is a continental 4060480

 

What brand is the alternator?

 

It's a crappy Duralast remanufactured one from the zone . That's probably the issue.

 

Yeah I agree with that statement.

 

😂Admittedly, I needed both of our cars this afternoon. Wife needed hers for work and I needed the other to shuttle kids and that duralast decision was made out of haste/necessity/time constraints. I may carry it back to them and get a proper one now that I'm not in a hurry. At least it's not too much of a pain to change.

 

Just keep an eye on it. My matrix water pump decided to offset itself. Shredded a belt and the pulley got a groove from the bolt.

 

Yeah, that sounds rough. Will keep an eye on it. I appreciate the help.

 

I see an offset on the bottom pulley. An impression or a reality?

 

Sorry, RAV4. I missed this when I first posted it. I'm thinking that's just the edge of the clutch on the A/C compressor. I had the opportunity to check the pulleys again with the belt off and all seem to spin freely and don't have any play. Belt is much more stable now after alternator rebuild and swapping belts.

 

Continental belts are decent. I primarily use Gates but will use Conti and Dayco in a pinch from local stores.

Yeah, I think it's the Duralast reman too. LOL! Since you no longer have the factory core, I'm not sure if you can get a Denso reman and get the core charge back. Otherwise not many NEW choices if yours is Japan-built. At least WAI global carries lifetime warranty. Better than Duralast reman I guess.

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Well, said reman duralast alternator crapped out today and was smoking and may had a small little flame inside the alternator at one point 😂 . I do still have the core. So the duralast will be going back to the zone and hopefully I'll get a new one from a dealership.

All batt light came on a second and then a lot of the dash lights came on. ABS, Batt, maybe traction control, parking brake light. And lost power steering after that. Drove it a short ways home. Planning on replacing with a decent alternator first. Any steps to take after that given all the lights and power steering loss? Or is it just start with alternator and see what else comes back alive?

 

What was wrong with the original alternator? Was the battery light in the cluster on? Did you notice the belt walk on the old alternator too?

 

Batt light came on the dash initially. Had it tested at the zone and it was bad. When the new one was installed the light didn't go off after a few cycles on and off. Had them test the alternator then and it failed the test as well.

I hadn't noticed the belt walk on the original but I really only checked occasionally and really had no reason to suspect anything was wrong with it. I looked at the continental belt and its little micro Vs are cut unevenly. One edge has roughly 1/3 of a micro V/rib and the opposite side has 2/3 of a micro v/rib and then 5 complete ribs/ridges in between. And that varies a little bit as you go around the belt - some spots are normal others have the odd cut like I mentioned above.

 

That’s an interesting feature in the ribs. I’d look into rebuilding the alternator if the brush kit is available instead. Especially since the Duralast was a dud. Or scour the junkyards for an oem one.

What was current flowing out of the alternator? Your battery light could be tied into the belt having slack.

 

Fortunately, they took both the alternator and the belt back. That's a good thought on the rebuild. I may call around town to see if anyone rebuilds them.

I'm not sure what the current out of the old alternator was when the zone tested it with the new one. I did check the old battery myself with the car running before taking it to the zone and was only getting 11.3 volts. Oddly the old belt was pretty taught before I took the old alternator out. I did push on it to feel the tension before getting started, in anticipation of putting it back to the same tension. Also marked the threads. For a while I wondered if I'd messed up the routing of the belt or something about the tensioner but checked online and took pics before I got started and had everything back how it was to start with.

 

Just posting an update. Replaced w rebuilt alternator this afternoon and everything now seems to be in good working order.

Found a place in town that has a very good reputation for alternator rebuilds and had the original denso rebuilt in a few hours at 1/2 the price of even the junky duralast. Put it back on this afternoon and tested all under hood fuses (was concerned for fuse link being broken after all my dash lights and power steering loss). Everything tested okay/good continuity. Battery still had good voltage and the old belt went on just fine and right around where I expected it should be on the tensioner. Still plan to go and get a new belt but now I know the initial tension oddness was due to a poorly remanufactured alternator.