Water Pump Spacer Options

[beentheunseen]

Hey guys,

just had a fan belt failure, and looking at the pulleys I think I must have got something wrong when i was assembling the engine as the pulleys don't line up... Where should the fan spacer go? Between the pulley and the water pump, or between the pulley and the fan?

[Grayedout]

Between the pulley and the pump.

[Wilson1330]

Between the pulley and the pump.

wrong, the spacer goes between the pulley and the fan.

[Grayedout]

Not on my car it doesn't !

[beentheunseen]

Between the pulley and the pump.

wrong, the spacer goes between the pulley and the fan.

Yeah, seems like I had it between the pulley and the pump when i had the failure, so i moved it to between the fan and the pulley. Still doesn't look quite right though... Another question, should the alternator bolt directly to the pump and mounting bracket, or should there be spacer washers inbetween?

[R1minimagic]

The later cars e.g. MPi have 2 spacers, one after the pump and one after the pulley.

[beentheunseen]

It's not an MPi, its a 1989 998 with just the one spacer...

[Pooky]

I would have said between pump and pulley too, thats where mine is. What would be point in having it outside the pulley? To push the fan further into cowling I suppose. Just put it where ever gets the fan belt straight. I think you can ones in different thicknesses.

[beentheunseen]

I would have said between pump and pulley too, thats where mine is. What would be point in having it outside the pulley? To push the fan further into cowling I suppose. Just put it where ever gets the fan belt straight. I think you can ones in different thicknesses.

I couldn't quite get the belt quite straight with either arrangement... Just going to try it between the fan and pulley as that seems to be straightest and I'll carry a spare belt in case of another failure. It is called a 'fan spacer' rather than a 'pulley spacer' on mini spares, so I'm hoping this is the intention lol... Also there is a thicker 11mm one for 'clearing the timing cover', and if you tried to offset the pulley by 11mm it would be a disaster so i'm thinking they're generally for pushing the fan further inside the cowling.

This post has been edited by beentheunseen: Mar 8 2010, 08:51 PM

[mini danny]

I couldn't quite get the belt quite straight with either arrangement... Just going to try it between the fan and pulley as that seems to be straightest and I'll carry a spare belt in case of another failure. It is called a 'fan spacer' rather than a 'pulley spacer' on mini spares, so I'm hoping this is the intention lol... Also there is a thicker 11mm one for 'clearing the timing cover', and if you tried to offset the pulley by 11mm it would be a disaster.
[/quote]
hiya mate this is off topic but are your seats still forsale thanks dan

[Paul Wiginton]

The crank pulley is in the same place on all Minis so why would the waterpump pulley need to be spaced? It doesnt.
The spacer is just to push the fan blades clear of the timing cover breather, and the thicker ones are for Clubman as the radiator is further away.

Paul

[beentheunseen]

hiya mate this is off topic but are your seats still forsale thanks dan

Nope sorry, they've been taken and are now marked as such - had too many messages to reply to everybody.

The crank pulley is in the same place on all Minis so why would the waterpump pulley need to be spaced? It doesnt.
The spacer is just to push the fan blades clear of the timing cover breather, and the thicker ones are for Clubman as the radiator is further away.

Paul

My thoughts exactly!

This post has been edited by beentheunseen: Mar 8 2010, 08:58 PM

[Sprocket]

The later cars e.g. MPi have 2 spacers, one after the pump and one after the pulley.

Both spacers should be between the pulley and the fan (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.gif)

[Cooperman]

Use the crank pulley as your basic datum for the fan belt centre-line.
Then check the alignment of the water pump pully. If necessary it can have a thin spacer behind it to get it in line, but this is almost never necessary. What is important is that it alignes accurately.
When those two are aligned, trial fit the alternator and use whatever washers you need to get the alternator pulley to align accurately. The spacer washers for the alternator must go on to the fitting bolt at the water pump lug. Then the other end of the alternator top bolt self-adjusts when tightened via the sliding sleeve. Make sure the bottom alternator clamp alignes without any pre-load, or the bracket can snap off in time.