Aux Drive Belt Change

[Akajak]

What causes the belt to squeal ? I have a new gator belt which squeals on startup.

[Hangar 111]

15 hours ago, Spanky3 said:

I've been trying to find the Gatorback belt for my  Evora S (Gates K071130). I gather that in US they are sold as Goodyear Gatorback and in Europe they are branded as Continental but I can't find a supplier.. please post if you do find anywhere.

How about your local friendly Lotus service centre?

[Jcx]

8 hours ago, Akajak said:

What causes the belt to squeal ? I have a new gator belt which squeals on startup.

I suspect your local frieindly service centre could advise.  IMO a squeally belt may be due to incorrect belt tension.

[Hangar 111]

33 minutes ago, Jcx said:

I suspect your local frieindly service centre could advise.  IMO a squeally belt may be due to incorrect belt tension.

Auto tensioner on the V6 engines.

The newer cars with more open rear hatches can be more prone to water ingress. How long does it do it for?

Dave

[Spanky3]

5 hours ago, Hangar 111 said:

How about your local friendly Lotus service centre?

Being a tightarse I was hoping to find the belt OEM packaged rather than Lotus packaged - 50 quid versus £120.  I might give up in the end though 🙂

[Akajak]

24 minutes ago, Hangar 111 said:

Auto tensioner on the V6 engines.

The newer cars with more open rear hatches can be more prone to water ingress. How long does it do it for?

Dave

Hi Dave

even when garaged and covered it does it; noise lessens after prob 15 mins

[Hangar 111]

12 minutes ago, Akajak said:

Hi Dave

even when garaged and covered it does it; noise lessens after prob 15 mins

You said it's a new belt?  How so, your car isn't that old?  Is it definitely belt slip, rather than a pulley?

21 minutes ago, Spanky3 said:

Being a tightarse I was hoping to find the belt OEM packaged rather than Lotus packaged - 50 quid versus £120.  I might give up in the end though 🙂

I fully understand, but if everyone goes elsewhere, there won't be any official outlets!  Watch this space, however, as this situation with pricing should be improving soon.

Dave

[Jcx]

6 minutes ago, Hangar 111 said:

I fully understand, but if everyone goes elsewhere, there won't be any official outlets!  Watch this space, however, as this situation with pricing should be improving soon.

Dave

timely comment... soon after dealer conference 😉

 

 

[Hangar 111]

20 minutes ago, Jcx said:

timely comment... soon after dealer conference 😉

Not particularly, as I assume it was full dealers only - we certainly weren't present!

But Lotus are working on improving some of the issues that have been raised in recent times, i.e. reducing back orders, etc.

[Bibs]

https://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/87449-future-of-lotus/?do=findComment&comment=871406

 

[Akajak]

14 hours ago, Hangar 111 said:

You said it's a new belt?  How so, your car isn't that old?  Is it definitely belt slip, rather than a pulley?

I fully understand, but if everyone goes elsewhere, there won't be any official outlets!  Watch this space, however, as this situation with pricing should be improving soon.

Dave

had a replacement belt (gator type), just trying to find out possible causes of squealing on start up when car is dry and garaged. Does a pulley cause squealing ? As you say the car isn't old, I guess I was just trying to establish if the squeal is curable or is it something which you have to live with. Thanks.

[agentdr8]

8 hours ago, Akajak said:

had a replacement belt (gator type), just trying to find out possible causes of squealing on start up when car is dry and garaged. Does a pulley cause squealing ? As you say the car isn't old, I guess I was just trying to establish if the squeal is curable or is it something which you have to live with. Thanks.

The idler pulleys have bearings in them that can sometimes lock up and cause a squeal. This is especially true with the Toyota 3.5 V6, which had a few different TSBs over the years addressing such issue (at least in the Toyota applications). 

Not saying this is definitely the cause of your particular squeal, but it's one of the many things that can. Some others being bad water pump seal, bad A/C compressor clutch, bad alternator, bad PS pump, bad belt tensioner, or it could not be a squeal at all, and it could be a harmonic noise that's occurring due to rubbing of metal on metal. 

I fought with a squeal for almost a year, replacing everything that turned, and I finally found that it was a broken exhaust mounting tab that was rubbing. 

[Akajak]

7 minutes ago, agentdr8 said:

The idler pulleys have bearings in them that can sometimes lock up and cause a squeal. This is especially true with the Toyota 3.5 V6, which had a few different TSBs over the years addressing such issue (at least in the Toyota applications). 

Not saying this is definitely the cause of your particular squeal, but it's one of the many things that can. Some others being bad water pump seal, bad A/C compressor clutch, bad alternator, bad PS pump, bad belt tensioner, or it could not be a squeal at all, and it could be a harmonic noise that's occurring due to rubbing of metal on metal. 

I fought with a squeal for almost a year, replacing everything that turned, and I finally found that it was a broken exhaust mounting tab that was rubbing. 

thanks for your helpful reply Dave , it helps