Sunday afternoon drive turned into white smoke coming out of the right side engine vent (over battery). The smell of burning rubber and the strange ac sound led me to the conclusion that the belt was slipping.

Does this sound about right?

What is the easiest way to replace belt….from above, removing battery or from below?

This is my third Fiero, first one was 87 2.5 auto, second was 88 formula. Both were under warranty way back when. Number 3 is an 88 GT. very low miles so the belt could be original.
Now that I'm old and broke I plan on doing all repairs myself. There will be a learning curve.

Thanks, Waynman

Welcome to the forum!

So much for chit chat.

Doesn't sound so good for the A/C or the budget. A/C can be a DIY project, but the tools can be expensive. A/C tends to be expensive because if the compressor goes you need not only it, but all the other major components and a good flush as well. Just replacing the belt is a pretty big project because the other belt has to come off. Getting bolts to move can be difficult, you don't want to break the alternator bracket, which happens, and you don't want to overtighten and ruin other things, which also happens.

Maybe the same thing happened to me. I took it to a garage. They did replace the belt, but it didn't stay on long, plus the alternator bracket got broken and awful bearing noises began a couple weeks later. I got a new bracket from the Fierostore.com, but haven't tackled the project yet. Maybe this weekend.

People have had good luck with retrofit 134a and recharging, but properly converting would require a set of gauges and a vacuum pump, plus the kit, and so on and so on. If you really want to use the A/C it would probably be better to have it done than invest in the tools. Either way this could be very expensive.

This is where I am too. The system seems to be retrofitted and it did work until the belt came off. I already have everything to put the belt on myself and I might buy a recharge thing with a gauge, but I'm not sure it's worth pursuing if that's not enough.

Good luck!

To do the belt I need to be over and under the car but I dont move the battery. If the compressor and pulleys are good it should go pretty well for you. I wonder why it smoked though, did the compressor stop turning while the crank pulley on the engine continued to spin?

In a few days i am replaceing my Ac belt on the 88 2.8, mine starts to slip ans sqeal if driving in rain. I think its road spray getting it wet that is the issue for me . A new belt will help, and perhaps set tighter, it kind of seems like there should be a better shrowd to block water spray.

[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 07-15-2014).]

Use a wider belt. It's been years since I did this, and no slipping.
Note: Info on 4-cylinder cars in the article is not for 87-88 cars.

quote Originally posted by TopNotch: Use a wider belt. It's been years since I did this, and no slipping. Note: Info on 4-cylinder cars in the article is not for 87-88 cars.

I tried this and was not happy with my results. It made the belt more difficult to tighten sufficiently. I recommend a Gate's belt in stock size. Gate's belts have a higher nylon content than other brands so they stretch less.

If your belt burned off, it is probably your compressor going bad or gone bad. A belt can burn off because of being too loose or because the compressor locks up. Check out my AC threads. I tried to include all the information a DIY'er would need.

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/132879.html

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/000197.html

[This message has been edited by Boostdreamer (edited 07-15-2014).]