Hello,

I am brand new to the forum and need some help.

I have a stock '98 Sidekick  JLX with a 1.8 liter engine. I tow it behind my RV. It has two belts, a long serpentine that runs all pulleys EXCEPT for the fan itself, and a short (12"?) belt that runs ONLY the fan.  It does not have a belt tensioner and will absolutely, positively not stay tight!

While on a road trip, I found that the fan pulley bearings were shot and had a Suzuki dealership replace it with a new Suzuki pulley (and belt). Made no difference whatsoever to the belt going loose. Here is what happens:

Myself or a shop tightens the belt, and within 100 miles or so, it's loose and squeaking. As in push on it and you get maybe 1/2" to 3/4" of play.  It used to take 300-400 miles to loosen, now it's down to 100 miles. But here's the thing, the two fan pulley bracket bolts (one in a fixed hole, the other in a curved arc slot for adjustment) are still completely tight. As in, it takes a very hard, sustained pull on a 15" wrench, then you get the "pop" of the clamped friction finally breaking loose. I thought maybe the bolts were bottoming out and tried ones 1/4" shorter but nothing changed, belt still gets loose.

At home and on the road, I have had probably 10 shops look at it and scratch their heads. Somehow, despite the locked down tight friction between the pulley bracket and the engine block that it squeezes against, it must find a way to migrate, thus loosening the belt. I'm probably on my 4th belt, different brands, new Suzuki pulley, etc. Nothing that anyone has tried has changed the situation. In fact, it has gotten worse. The new pulley has been checked and is fine. All pulleys are aligned on the same plane, etc. A new belt might stretch a little but not forever!

My thought is perhaps to use very coarse sandpaper (or maybe even a file) to scratch the bracket and block where they mate in order to prevent any more movement, which is what must be occurring. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll be forced to find a shop to convert it to an electric fan. I've asked around an no one wants to take on the job.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Anyone know an ASE certified Exorcist?

Hate to say it, but this is one of Suzukis "not so good' designs. The fan belt adjuster bolts to a bracket that also holds the a/c compressor. The top bolt of the adjuster goes into a threaded 'ear' on that bracket which is very prone to cracking/breaking. It's made of the metal equivalent of styrofoam.    I just went through this with my '97 Sport. The parts are obscenely expensive & not worth the hassle imo. I found, after replacing both the broken bracket and the tensioner/pulley that mine also would still not stay tight. I think it was that the clutch or bearings in the fan were just worn enough to cause it to be out of balance... & that out of balance was enough to pull on the tensioner & loosen the belt. Every time! I over-torqued, re-torqued IDK how many times before I gave up. Huge waste of money & time.
My advice: delete it & install an electric fan & controller & be done with it. I got my electric fan & controller from Summit Racing.... no more squealing fan belt for me! 

To be specific, I got the 'Flex-a-lite Syclone 398' fan & the 31147 controller shown in the 'suggested parts' here:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/flx-398/overview/

The controller it turns out is supposed to have a 20a inline fuse. I found that the 398's draw would surge past 20a when it first kicks on. I put a 30a fuse instead & have had no problem since. Summit should probably show the higher amp controller for the FLX398. I've checked & it has shown no sign of heat or problems with the higher amperage fuse... 'but' one of the lower amperage fans would have been a better choice such as the FLX-116:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/flx-116/overview/

Still plenty of CFM & has a lower peak amperage draw.

Installation isn't difficult. I mounted the controller on 2 existing holes on the strut stabilizer bar, ran the hot feed through the bar directly to the battery (with the fuse in-line). This causes the fan to run a bit after the ignition is shut off; 30 seconds or so in colder weather & a couple minutes when it's hotter. I have an Optima Redtop that is well oversized so I'm not worried about it drawing the battery down.
The hardest part of the install is getting the 'through the radiator' plastic pin mounts secured. In my case it required removing the top radiator bolts & leaning the radiator back enough to reach the pins & secure the plastic 'nuts'. I can't say I like this mounting much, but there seem to be lots of people running it this way & I've not seen any specific complaints. The plastic mounting bolts are included & are very long. Long enough you could probably put them through the a/c condenser fins too, but I trimmed them to just go through the radiator, so need to tip the radiator back...
Hope that helps!

 

The problem with that mounting method is the plastic "pins" can pull through the radiator fins, and use on rough terrain increases the likelihood of it happening - try to get the head of the pin close to a radiator tube, or maybe use a plastic washer to span the space between tubes so that the tubes take the pressure rather than just the fins.

The problem with that mounting method is the plastic "pins" can pull through the radiator fins, and use on rough terrain increases the likelihood of it happening - try to get the head of the pin close to a radiator tube, or maybe use a plastic washer to span the space between tubes so that the tubes take the pressure rather than just the fins.

Agreed, it's not an optimal mount design & I can see how it might pull/tear the fins over time. The nuts, at least on the Flex-a-Lite that I got, are wide enough they span the adjacent cores so they can't pull through. My bigger concern it over time the vibration/friction at the pins might wear through the cores themselves & cause a leak. If I were planning on building for off-road use I would for sure get (or make) mounting brackets that would eliminate the bolt through & mount directly to the radiator side mount brackets. For my current use (mostly on road & occasional backroad/trails) it seems okay 'so far'.

Thanks Fuzzy1, I just ordered a Flex-a-lite 118 (2,500 CFM but 3/4" thinner than the 398), and the same controller but based on your experience, I'll use it to control a 40 amp Bosch relay. All from Summit Racing. And any fuses will be slo-blo.

Thanks Fuzzy1, I just ordered a Flex-a-lite 118 (2,500 CFM but 3/4" thinner than the 398), and the same controller but based on your experience, I'll use it to control a 40 amp Bosch relay. All from Summit Racing. And any fuses will be slo-blo.

Cool, let us know how the install goes!

I had a similar problem on mine and replaced it with an electric fan. I also had a similar froblem to Fuzzy and burned up a few relays. I went overboard with a Spal fan and HO relay system. I didn't trust the "push through the fins" setup for turning the fan. I built a setup to use a thermal switch in the coolant hard line.

This appears to be a common problem with the US versions of this engine from 96-98.  There are a few Sport owners on the forum that obtained their Sports after the previous owners had the same issue. Getting the air out of the coolant system and finding a thermostat that works correctly can also be issues.

I use an ELM 327 Bluetooth adapter to verify the Temps and alarm if the temp goes high.

All that being said, I put nearly 300k miles on my first one, before a lady ran a red light and totaled it.