jrb

Sorry my first post has to be a bitch, because I really love my '12 Eco Boost. The other day I had a f@%^ing cat get under the hood and knocked the main belt off on start up. Don't know the fate of the cat but I hope he died a slow death. Anyway, these things dont have a movable tensioner, but rather uses a special tool to slide the belt over the idler pulley. A deisel mechanic buddy of mine was just here to look at it and said newer construction equipment is going to the same setup. IMHO, this is a stupid design that pretty much guarentees you are dead in the water if you lose a belt, since there is no chance of getting it back on with ordinary tools. If I'm wrong about this, I'll certainly eat my words and go out to my shop and fix my truck, otherwise I guess I'll have to tow it to the dealer tomorrow.

Jay

marauder11

The fans are electric are they not. Power steering is power assisted. Belt runs ac and alt. I am not a mechanic but i would think if you had to drive like 15 mins to dealer you would be ok. Please someone who knows for sure chime in

jrb

The fans and steering are electric, the ac compressor runs off a separate belt, and the water pump and alternator are driven off the main belt. You wouldn't get far without overheating.

TJPlatinumEB

90% sure water pump is inside the motor and driven off of one of the timing chains. I read that somewhere in some Ford documentation and it was mentioned here as well. Lots of German cars do this also. Water pump is not dependant on serpentine system

jrb

The main belt runs over 4 pulleys. The crank, the alternator, an idler, and a large pulley directly over the crank pulley. Thats the one I'm assuming is the water pump.

Jay

sullyman

^ this.

Ford advertises their trucks as having fail safe cooling systems, and this is part of that system.

That said, time to go buy a tool before I get left stranded somewhere.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

I hate Cats....

byoungblood

Water pump is driven by the timing chain. That pulley is just another idler.

I'm sure these stretch belt systems will (hopefully) be a cost cutting fad and someone will come to their senses and do away with them before too long.

jrb

UPDATE- I'm not afraid to eat crow if I'm wrong, and I'm wrong on this one. The idler pulley IS movable, but man it's stiff. I had a 6 or 7 inch straight wrench on the pulley bolt and I couldn't budge it. (and I'm a pretty big guy) The dealer was nice enough to bring out his "special tool" which was a Snap On 18" ratchet with a few bends in the handle and even then it was pretty tough to release the idler enough to slip the belt on. As for the cat, I saw it last night, fine except the last 3/4 of his tail is skinned to the bone. It's my wifes cat, but I'm a patient man. I'll let this deal blow over for the next month or so, then the damned thing will disappear. Off to eat some crow now.....

Jay

marauder11

We learn something everyday.NO CAT FOR THE WIFE