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We recently acquired a 54 Cavalier and have experienced charging issues. It will only charge up to 6.2 volts even after new vr and generator installed. Our latest idea is the belt. The current belt has these numbers, Carquest 7417xl and also has the Gates number 11A1055. It seems the tension is a little light and will not adjust any tighter. Does anyone have a number for a little smaller belt that works on a 54 327?Thanks

Was your new regulator checked & adjusted?

Parts Cross Reference shows a AC Delco 15410 fan belt without PS and a 15460 with PS.

Thanks so much! I did not test it but just took it out of the box and polarized as per the directions. Might figure how to do that but I think regardless the current belt is not tight enough.

Also make sure something didn't get swapped so an incorrect pulley is in use somewhere. The belt must be wide enough to have the outside edge run at the outer edge of all the pulleys and not down in the groove. If for example a generator or any other pulley off an engine that used a wider belt is installed on a narrower belt engine, the mismatch will cause the belt to be running too low and will have your exact symptom.

If the generator was replaced, check that the pulley was the same as the old one.

It would help if someone could give me the number off the belt currently working properly on their 327 with p/s. I think the current one, carquest 7417xl/gates 11a1055 is slightly too large.

This is on my 53 Cavalier, no power steering. Probably not very helpful..... Both my Cavalier and my 53 Patrician parts car have manual steering. Both Cdn cars and I guess power steering was too frivolous!





If your pulley was changed, as previously mentioned, and is smaller, that could make a "correct" size belt too long and cause slippage due to less traction on the smaller pulley. Somebody might have put a smaller pulley so the generator spun faster for puttering around town. Just guessing.

Thanks for going to the trouble but ours does have p/s and thus it is a different belt.

Tommy, a good parts house will be able to tell the length of your belt from the number, or by measuring it with a gauge. Just get one slightly smaller and this should do it. Also verify it is the correct width. Take care, John