CTSC Belt Broke

[NSX2NV]

Guys,

Thursday I picked up my car after getting the CTSC installed w / high boost kit. It drove fine till Saturday and then the SC belt broke. Also earlier in the day when I was driving a friend of mine following behind said he saw a cloud of black smoke from the exhaust when I dowshifted and hit the throttle. Both incidents happened at different times.

1. Is the black smoke being caused by the air/fuel not being correct, the autometer A/F gauge always shows rich when the car is at boost. Or is something else causing this. (I also have Taittec exhaust and headers)

2. When the SC belt broke, the EPS, ABS and Battery light went on in the car. Also I have no power steering. Is this a normal occurance when a belt breaks. The cars runs but luckily I was only a 1/2 km from home and parked the car immediately to avoid any damage.

Is my car damaged or is this what happens when the belt breaks.

I'll call Acura tommorrow and pray it's just a broken belt.

Any advise is appreciated.

Johnny.

 

[len3.8]

Guys,

Thursday I picked up my car after getting the CTSC installed w / high boost kit. It drove fine till Saturday and then the SC belt broke. Also earlier in the day when I was driving a friend of mine following behind said he saw a cloud of black smoke from the exhaust when I dowshifted and hit the throttle. Both incidents happened at different times.

1. Is the black smoke being caused by the air/fuel not being correct, the autometer A/F gauge always shows rich when the car is at boost. Or is something else causing this. (I also have Taittec exhaust and headers)

This could just be carbon build up.. But I would have to say that when my car was on the track I would occasionally blow some black smoke... It was contributed to a rich condition that was later diagnosed as a bad O2 sensor... I will say that after they replaced that sensor, I had no more problems..



2. When the SC belt broke, the EPS, ABS and Battery light went on in the car. Also I have no power steering. Is this a normal occurance when a belt breaks. The cars runs but luckily I was only a 1/2 km from home and parked the car immediately to avoid any damage.

All of those lights came on when mine went as well... The pumps/altenator/ ect are all being turned by that one belt...


Is my car damaged or is this what happens when the belt breaks.


Go see if you can turn the pulley on the CTSC by hand... Hope that you can and it has not seized....
If it has not seized, make sure they have the tensioner installed correctly... Is the belt broken or just off the pulley?...

Good luck.
Len

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Johnny,

First I would not be too concerned about any long term effects. Typically either age or misadjustment account for the belt breaking. Regardless a new belt, tensioned properly is needed.

The Comptech system is very dependent on fuel pressure. The 9 lb. kit, on one other car I know was kind of rich (your black smoke issue) and needed a fuel pressure adjustment. I would think that this is all that is required, at least, it needs to be checked and confirmed that it is setup correctly.

If you had it installed by someone other then Comptech, please have the tech call Shad at Comptech. He is great and extremely helpful, and knows the system better then anyone. No guessing required.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[DangerMoney]

A single belch of black smoke is normal since the fuel pressure goes to max under WOT and subsequently dumps a load on fuel into the engine. Black smoke = rich mixture.


I had a defective belt go on me at a driver's school. The inside surface of the belt (where the "gatorback" is) was stripped clean of the rubber leaving just fiberglass (whatever it is) outside carcass. No rubber = no grip on the pulleys. I replaced the belt during the school and the car drove normally. All those lights coming on is what happens when the belt breaks because all those systems are directly or indirectly driven by the serpentine belt.

 

[NSX2NV]

Thanks for the info guys, it eased my mind a little.

Len, the pulley on the SC turns fine, It doesn't seem liked it's seized. How about the fact that I don't have the power steering. Does the SC belt turn the PS pump as well? The belt actually got shredded into pieces. I found a small piece of it but the rest must have flew off on the road.

Larry, Woodbine Acura installed the SC. They are an authorized installer and have done 6-7 SC but this is the first 3.2L they have done.

So basically it looks like I'll just need to get a new belt on and tensioned correctly. I'm booked for a dyno on Tuesday and will make sure the A/F is correct.

Would it be safe to drive the car as it is to the dealer tommorrow (20 minutes away) to get a new belt put on?

Thanks again for the info.

 

[len3.8]

Thanks for the info guys, it eased my mind a little.

Len, the pulley on the SC turns fine, It doesn't seem liked it's seized. How about the fact that I don't have the power steering. Does the SC belt turn the PS pump as well? The belt actually got shredded into pieces. I found a small piece of it but the rest must have flew off on the road.



Glad to hear this... The Belt turns all of the aux, I have to say on the eps, I am not a 100% sure... I will let Mr. Batanza have that one.. I don't know if there is a aux pump for the EPS or not.

Larry, Woodbine Acura installed the SC. They are an authorized installer and have done 6-7 SC but this is the first 3.2L they have done.


The 3.2 or 3.0 the installs are pretty much the same, the pulley is a different size and the AFR is different when you go high boost as well as the injectors...

So basically it looks like I'll just need to get a new belt on and tensioned correctly. I'm booked for a dyno on Tuesday and will make sure the A/F is correct.

Sounds like the belt was your culprit... Do as you are doing, have them pay close attention to the tensioning, not to over tension or under tension.

Would it be safe to drive the car as it is to the dealer tommorrow (20 minutes away) to get a new belt put on?
I drove mine, in fact I asked that very same question and was told to drive it... Just remember you altenator is not charging your battery at all.. So I wouldn't stop/turn the ignition off...
Having said that, I would tow mine if it were to happen again.
YMMV
Glad it appears to just be the belt... Make SURE they check the pulleys and the paths for anything that could be sticking out, that could have damaged the belt. Be real anal about the setup when they go to replace the belt... Was this a brand new belt?
Thanks again for the info.

 

[DangerMoney]

The power steering in the NSX is electrically powered. There are no hydraulics/pump.

 

[NSX2NV]

The power steering in the NSX is electrically powered. There are no hydraulics/pump.

Does this mean that something else has gone wrong for the power steering not to work?

Len, The belt should have been new,because the SC kit was brand new.

 

[len3.8]

Does this mean that something else has gone wrong for the power steering not to work?

Len, The belt should have been new,because the SC kit was brand new.

Okay, so you should have had the High boost kit right from the start? I would guess (JMHO) that the belt was defective and fried under the pressure.. Good. just get all of the debris away from anything that could intake them.

Danger money, confirmed what I thought... The EPS light would come on due to being tied in with the eletrical system. The altenator was not being charged, ect. ect. ect.

Have them get you a new belt, you can find them at a lot of auto part Stores.. The model number is available from Comptech, even if they were going to give you a new belt, I would pick up an extra to minimize down time..

Really make sure they have the tensioner pulley and all else in the path aligned correctly. Check and then double check. If they can put it on a computer to check your AF ratio.. I was told that most CTSC authorized installers should be able to do this... Make sure it is done properly... I don't mean to sound so paranoid, but it can get very expensive in a hurry.. Especialy if you get someone halfassing a install. (Not saying they have)

 

[donwon]

Hello ... did the belt snap or shred on one side then snap? If shredded most on the passenger side, I went through the same thing. Brand new kit, had a few belts shred on me. Same 3.2 high boost kit. The last one i had has been doing fine, seems it was just a matter of tensioning.

 

[DangerMoney]

The CTSC belt is a plain-vanilla Goodyear Gatorback for GM vehicles. The part number is 4050705 5PK1790. I buy them at my local auto parts store. Go down to yours and buy two, one to put on the car now and carry the other as a spare in your trunk along with the routing diagram which you can get off of CT's website.

I replace the belts myself. It's easiest done with the right rear wheel and the alternator removed. Make sure all the old bits of belt are removed and the new one is aligned correctly on the pulleys otherwise the new one will shred immediatley.

The tension should be such that you can grab the vertical portion of the belt (the section coming off trunk-side of the blower snout pulley and going straight down towards the ground) and twist it 90 degrees with your hand.

Check that the plastic pulley (and all of the others) turns freely before putting the belt on. If the belt tension has been too tight in the past the plastic pulley will grind as you turn it with your hand. If it isn't smooth as silk, replace it.

Another thing to check: Visually inspect the all the pulleys to see if they are all in the same plane. A friend on mine kept breaking belts and couldn't figure out why. It turned the person that did the original installation put the pulley mounting plate in crooked so the belts kept riding up on one of the pulleys and breaking under the additional tension.

 

[NSX2NV]

Thanks guys,

I'm going to pick up a few belts and take the car to Acura today. I'll make sure they check all the things that have been mentioned.

P.S Would the belt # 4050705 be the same for the 3.0l and 3.2l cars? I don't want to buy the wrong belt and find out after we try to put it on the car.

Johnny

 

[satan_srv]

yeah like the other guy said the black smoke isn't a big deal. Basically between the shift the fuel cut isn't fast enough to trim the amount of fuel being rammed in there. When you get back on it the excess fuel gets blown out = running rich black smoke

It's usually better than having the fuel trimmed down between shifts cause then the car usually hesitates a little when you get on it. You usually have to disable a feature in the ecu to get it to keep spraying.

It's similar but not nearly as effective to the advanced feature the Hondata offers called full throttle shift. http://www.hondata.com/featuresshift.htm

 

[NSX2NV]

Well I got the belt changed at the Acura dealership today. The belt they put on with the kit last Thursday was a serpentine (ribbed) belt and this time they put on a gator back belt. The gatorback belt looks like it is more flexible and was a little thinner in width so there was no contact on the sides of the pullies. Hopefully this one is correct and will last. I also had them go through the list of things to check for that were mentioned in this thread. I beleive the belt design has changed recently but the part # is the same. The broken belt was made by Carquest and the new one by Goodyear.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[NetViper]

Johnny... what do you think of the Hi-boost kit?

 

[donwon]

Where did you get the gatorbacks? They are impossible to get around here.

 

[NSX2NV]

Donwon, You should be able to pick up the gatorbacks at any autoparts store. The Acura dealer that did my install took a belt off of a new kit they had in stock, so I'm pretty sure you can get the Gatorbacks directly from Comptech as well.

Dave, The Hi Boost kit feels very strong, compared to the stock car. I keep comparing my NSX to my CLK 55 and was alittle dissapointed at the lack of torque but the HP is definetley there. It's a different feel of acceleration. The car dynoed 268 RWHP with Taitec Headers, Lightweight Exhaust, Cantrell AIS and stock ait box with high flow uni filter. I'm taking it for another dyno on Fri and will post #'s. I haven't run against anything yet and have been taking it easy since the belt broke. I did a few runs with the G-tech pro unit before the original belt broke and it showed 0-60mph times of 4.8-5.2s but I don't think it's accurate due to my launch and reaction times.

Johnny

 

[NetViper]

Dave, The Hi Boost kit feels very strong, compared to the stock car. I keep comparing my NSX to my CLK 55 and was alittle dissapointed at the lack of torque but the HP is definetley there. It's a different feel of acceleration. The car dynoed 268 RWHP with Taitec Headers, Lightweight Exhaust, Cantrell AIS and stock ait box with high flow uni filter. I'm taking it for another dyno on Fri and will post #'s. I haven't run against anything yet and have been taking it easy since the belt broke. I did a few runs with the G-tech pro unit before the original belt broke and it showed 0-60mph times of 4.8-5.2s but I don't think it's accurate due to my launch and reaction times.

Johnny

Your CLK is NA V8 right? It would still make a lot more tq than the SC NSX.

4.8-5.2 does sound way slow as your car stock should do that.

If I make it home to toronto this summer (doubtful) I will have to check it out!

 

[NSX2NV]

The CLK is N/A.

Here's the B4 SC dyno.

 

[Lud]

Donwon, You should be able to pick up the gatorbacks at any autoparts store.

Unfortunately that does not seem to be in the US. Many of the chain auto parts stores here have agreements with manufacturers to only sell a particular brand, or they sell their own store brand exclusively. I had to hunt around a while to find the Goodyear belts.

donwon - Try AutoZone, they stock goodyear belts and that's where I buy mine. You can also order them from CTech.

Johnny - Did the kit ship new with this other belt? Comptech says right in their instructions to only use the GatorBack belts, at least with the for standard boost kit.

 

[NSX2NV]

Lud,

Comptech shipped the kit with the ribbed style belt, which is odd because the Acura dealer had a 3.0l kit with a gatorback belt in stock. Maybe someone at Comptech screwed up and shipped an old style belt.

 

[donwon]

I got the car quest belt shipped with my kit, so maybe they changed something. Also, no luck the local autozone. Ill try going out further. Thanks for the info.

 

[donwon]

one more thing ....

The part number is 4050705 5PK1790

For the hi boost kit, should be 5pk1770; 20 mm smaller, or at least thats what came with mine. I (think) they ship out the other belts with the hi boost kit, and use gatorbacks for the standard kit. Becasue I cant find a gotorback in the 1770 length within an inch. The one above 4050705 being the closest fit.

 

[DangerMoney]

The CTSC belt is a plain-vanilla Goodyear Gatorback for GM vehicles. The part number is 4050705 5PK1790. I buy them at my local auto parts store.

The last time I bought SC belts was at least a year ago, I got them at Autozone and they carried the Gatorbacks. Regarding parts #'s, I have the standard 6 lb. kit.