Water pump life & pulleys

["Scott Johnson" <scott@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Richard Bies in AD 8 speculated that the 164 water pumps last longer because of being
"driven by the cog-belt". Now, never having seen the innards of a 164, I can only
speculate on exactly what this means, BUT...

If a cogged belt would result in substantially less tension needing to be placed on
the alternator/water pump assembly (potentially increasing the water pump's
lifespan), how tough would it be to convert a "standard" milano or GTV6 to cogged
pulleys? If all you need are the pulleys from a 164, it would seem a small investment
when compared to regularly replacing the water pump.

Even if the cogged pulleys form one of those "wondermous" serpentine belt systems on
a 164 (thereby making the 164 belt unsuitable because it would be too long), all
would not necessarily be lost. An industrial rubber supply shop can give you pretty
much any belt you want (size, width, length; cog number, shape and frequency, etc.).
Just get a shorter (or narrower) belt and fit that instead.

Even if the 164 pulleys were unsuitable due to some size limitation, how tough would
it be to find cogged pulleys or adapters that could in fact fit the Milano/GTV6? 

Maybe someone (Fred?) who owns both a 164 and a milano can tell us why this isn't a
good idea?

Scott Johnson
Alfa Spider FAQ Author

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