Well today I put my 2.8 pulley on. Well I got the shorter belt that came with it from zzp and I never even got it on, I tried for hours, even made sure the tensioner was all they way down, but still it just wouldnt go...seemd tight as hell.

I ended up having to put the stock belt back on for now, and its running fine, havent got into full boost for a hard pull yet b/c I know its going to slip with that stock belt.

Is it just this hard to get the shorter belt on or what? Is it possible the belt is to short?

The tensioner seemed really hard to push down as well, the 15mm was stripped so I had to pry at the pulley and ate it up a little bit.

 

I unbolted the blower and slid it under the belt at an angle. Just be careful not to bend the guiding bolt holes on the intake mani.

 

step on the belt and pull it up with your body
to stretch it some, its the Stage 2 belt?

yea acouple of my friends installed my 2.8 with the stage 2 belt and i think they stretched the belt b4 install

maybe this helps

 

Ah, I was hoping this thread was heading in a different direction. I did the 2.8 pulley and shorter belt as well, but now I'm getting belt squeal. Not slipping, but at idle, it squeaks like a SOB. If I relieve the tension just a hair, it goes away. Ideas? Anyone else have this?

 

Yo, start a new thread?

I tried stretching it a little, maybe not enough. It didnt look anywhere near close....guess I will give it another run tomorrow, it was getting dark, and the car was already apart so couldnt move it to good lighting.

I began with the s/c off, put just couldnt get it to line up with the belt over all the pulleys, which is why I took it off and decided to do the belt last.

 

Not sure if it is the stage 2 belt, just got the zzp belt/pully/hib combo and its what came with it.

 

Sounds like somewhere it's just not on all the way. Check to make sure, when i changed my alternator it squealed like a biotch and the belt just needed to be slipped on better.

 

Thanks man, I'll check it out!

 

figured out the problem,

When I am trying to pry on the tensioner, the belt is over it, because the 15mm part is stripped, so I have to use a pry bar, and with the belt on, its keeping it from moving enough to slip over the s/c pulley.....guess its time for new tensioner?

 

u can buy an over sized tensioner and use the stock belt or buy a replace one from the dealer or where ever its cheaper

 

Take a 9/16 wrench and tap it on with a hammer. Mine stripped out after 2 times of using it. Its a stupid set up. But i've never had a problem using a 9/16 wrench

 

You need a ZZP adjustable tensioner OR a pulleyboys tensioner tool if youre having a hard time with the tensioner.

Sure, you could use a pry bar or get otherwise creative, but the above options ensure you get the tensioner down all the way with minimal effort.

 

i got mine from zzp too, its the gm stage 2 belt. i have a 2.8 and it was a bitch too, had someone hold the tensioner down while i pried the belt on with the worlds biggest screw driver. now my belts shot though cause the stock tensioner pulley bracket is bad so theres slack which caused belt slap which jacked up my belt lol. needless to say im ordering the zzp tensioner this weekend.

 

i'm telling you... the easiest way is just to aim the blower at an angle under the belt. make sure it lines up and then bolt it down.

 

Honestly that just sounds stupid, but to each his own. There are just to many things that could go wrong.

OP I bought the zzp adjustable tensioner and it works better than I ever thought it would to release the tension.

To the one who has the squeaky belt, you probably need a new idler pulley. Bad bearings will cause a squeak.

 

Like I said before, all you have to watch out for really is the guiding holes at the intake manifold. It's easy.

 

get 2 people. 1 holding down tensioner and anyther on both sides of the pulley and slide it over its how me and my dad got it on im on a 2.9 and it was a bitch i could have never got it on by myself.

 

make sure the belt is lined up on the grooves of the bottom pulley. i think the a/c pulley. Mine was squeaking real bad and it was because it wasnt lined up right on that lower pulley

 

would that be a cause of low boost? i just changed the alternator for the 2nd time and i was watching that video on youtube where he used the T50 torx bit to relieve the tensioner but it didnt work as easy as he got it to work. i actually loosened the bolt to the pulley but i tightened it back down.

also i had the pulley on the alternator replaced since it was the problem but i am not sure if they replaced it with the exact same size, they said they did so ill trust them for now.

basically put it this way before the alt went i was boosting around 16-17 psi with 2.8 pulley, 60s, intake, header-back 2.5" exhaust, and hp tuned and after i got her put back together there was this nasty squeel comming from the belt area around the tensioner. the belt looked like it had some play but after a couple minutes of warming up the sound got minimal along with the play in the belt.

i go and try to do a quick pull and it feels like i hit fuel cut, so i ride her out then try one more time and the same deal happens. so i drive around just babying her then i do a pull and this time no fuel cut but now i am only at 10 psi at wot then it hits 12.3 psi a little before redline. it deff. feels like something is holding her back but i dont think belt slip can be this much of a killer on boost, or can it?

 

bumppp 10 char

 

I have got the zzp 2.8 with the smaller belt and mine works fine. It is a tight fit but it should work. If your tensioner is striped a little, that may be the reason because to get the smaller belt on, the tensioner has to be pushed ALL THE WAY "down."

 

Yup! Honestly, 2 people makes it SO much easier. Have 1 person crank that tensioner down and the other work the belt in.

 

a bar of soap on the contact portion of the belt will help this. Old school trick but very functional.

 

oh i dont have a problem with getting the belt on, well i do but you know what i mean haha. my problem is after i installed the rebuilt alternator it seems to have ALOT more slack in the belt and i feel that this is where im loosing boost.

when i first started her back up after the install i was only at like 8 psi. I d/c the actuator/by pass valve and i was finally back up in a decent amount of boost [13-14.3] but no where close to where i was before pulling the alternator [16-18 psi]. i tried changing the gap from .035 to .040 still no difference. I am officially stumped.

The only new things i put on the car was a fujita air filter and new maf, and rebuilt alternator [clutch was removed and new pulley was installed]. Other than that everything else stayed the same. I am assuming maybe he put in a different size pulley on the alt but it looks the same. it seems alot of people had this problem but no one posted a solution. help me!!