Installing an EFK? 72.5 inch serpentine belt and timing belt cover template pics (long)

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02-12-2006, 06:30 PM

silva

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Installing an EFK? 72.5 inch serpentine belt and timing belt cover template pics (long)

Last night I contemplated installing an EFK in my car, since I recently discovered that my viscous fan had half of its blades missing. Not sure how it happened exactly.

A couple of months ago, before I put the car in the Garage for winter, I began hearing a tick, tick, tick noise coming from the front end, which turned out to be a small fragment of the fan that got wedged in the serpentine belt. Put a tear right in the centre of the belt.

After I removed the fan and clutch assembly, I discovered that it was indeed impossible to install this Spal fan model VA18-AP13-59A without removing the entire pulley and bracket off the car.

I woke up this morning at 7AM to start the project. After STFA I decided that there was only one way to make the timing belt cover to install where the old bracket location was. I also noticed that people still used the OEM serpentine belt after removing the one pulley. Not good enough for me.

I went out to Crappy tire (Canadian equivalent of Pep-Boys) and measured the OE belt at 73 inches. I purchased a 72.5" belt which happened to be a very very tight fit, but it works, and the tensioner remains operating within it's midrange. The stock belt will work just as well though.

I made the timing belt cover by measuring, and measuring again to get it fitting as nice as possible. I used some household aluminum flashing to make the new cover piece, since it is easy to cut it using a utility knife. I bent it in such a way that it would cover any exposed area of the timing belt, and it uses one of the mounting holes that were previously used for the fan pulley bracket (can be seen under the cover).

I riveted the new piece to the OE timing belt cover, being very careful not to put the rivets close to where the timing belt runs behind the cover.

For anyone that is interested, I have made a template, which I will dimension tomorrow and upload here for all to see. It will definately save you a few hours of tinkering with measurements.

The fan install was very straight forward. I purchased some connectors which will enable the fan to be disconnected in the same fashion as the other connectors near the power steering reservoir. I used the signal from the small A/C fan (automatically comes on at 95 degrees celcius) to control a relay that will run the SPAL fan. Do not simply wire the two fans together, as it may overload the circuit. Used three mounting screws to hold the to the radiator support. Surprisingly enough, the new SPAL fan motor back is only 1/4" away from the serpentine belt. I guess I could have spaced it out closer to the radiator, since there is over a half inch of room there. Anyways, here are a few pics, and look for the template soon, in case you are thinking of doing an EFK.

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/Fan_mounted.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/spal_fan_026.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/rad_suppor_trimming.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/die_grinder.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/timing_cover_mod.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/timing_cover_mod2.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/EFK004.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/EFK005.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/EFK006.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/EFK007.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/EFK008.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/EFK009.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/EFK010.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/EFK011.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/EFK012.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/EFK013.jpg">

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/sergio.silva/Pictures/template2.jpg">