RX7320 AC belt issues

[WoodChuckDad]

My 7320 is almost 10 years old. it's a 2015 and I took delivery in late 2015., 5 or six years ago I had the actension pully break off in a field and I made a video repairing that and replacing the belt. I have had that belt need adjustment many times over the last few years and it will start squeaking because it's not tight enough. I had the belt break a couple months ago. The pully was worn on one side to the point of being razor sharp. The spacer on the inside of the pully was missing and I'm not sure how. maybe I didn't put it in there the ways I should have. I replace there parts and the belt and I have been having problems getting the belt tight enough. today I tightened it because there was a lot of slop in the belt. After an hour it started squeaking again. I turned off the AC, cracked the side windows and opened the back and finished the holes i was digging for fence,. It's 95 degrees toay so I wasn't havnig fun. After a long break, I'm about to tighten it some more. The goal being no more than 1/4 inch of play in the belt but I thought I was there last time. I'm always hesitant to go to tight because I don't want to damage a bearing of the pully on the compressor. This tractor has been pretty solid, over the years, but I don't love the AC belt design.

 

[Harry in Ky]

Issues with the belt, pulleys, spacers, ETC not withstanding, some of the problem with a slipping, hard to keep tight enough belt could also be system related. Hot days mean higher system pressures, which adds to compressor (and drive belt) strain. Keeping the condenser as cool as possible will HELP reduce some of that. Years ago cab tractors had condensers nearly as big as the radiator. These days most tractors have a condenser no bigger than a lady's shoe box and it sits way out front somewhere with minimal airflow. What you do with the tractor often dictates the engine RPM (to some degree at least) and anything less than full RPM will reduce the airflow to and through that condenser. Not to mention the plain old maintenance of blowing out the radiator and any front mounted coolers. If you had a set of gauges on the A/C system while the squealing is occurring the pressures involved might surprise you. Add to that some tractors use a flimsy 3/8" belt to begin with which has marginal traction on it's best day.