What problems can a bad serpentine belt cause?
Your serpentine belt is driven by your crank pulley. What that means is when your engine is running, your serpentine belt will be turning. Generally speaking, your serpentine belt will run along your a/c compressor, power steering pump, and also your alternator. If this belt breaks, it will cause all of those items to lose operation. First you will lose power steering as well as your a/c, then after the vehicle has ran off and drained your battery (since the alternator is no longer charging it), the car will stall.
Problem with Serpentine Belt Tensioner?
On automatic tensioners, there should be a square hole near the pulley and belt. There you can insert a socket wrench and push the tensioner inwards so the belt will loosen and you can pull the belt off. The nut in the center is spinning freely because that's where the tensioner rotates to loosen and tighten the belt accordingly, so you'll never get the belt off that way. I just replaced my alternator yesterday and that's how I took the belt off, your's may be different. I'd also recommend that when you have the socket wrench inserted, that you should be pushing down on it, this makes it easier since you're putting more weight on it than pulling the wrench and you'll get the belt as loose as possible for easy removal. Hope this helps.
Harmonic balancer/serpentine belt problem?
About a week ago, I started hearing a rattling sound when I turned on my air conditioner. I took it to the shop to get the oil and fluids changed and asked them to look at it. They said my car was fine, but needed it's 70000 mile check up. Three days later, my electrical problems light came on and my ac died. About an hour later the car stopped running in the middle of nowhere. I managed to get back home, but my car is still in the town where I broke down and the mechanic is saying that my harmonic balancer and serpentine belt are missing. What is a harmonic balancer? Is it likely that it would just fall off? How much should it cost to get it replaced? I have no idea if I can trust this mechanic and no way to get a second opinion without paying for a four hour tow to a shop closer to home. Please give me some advice on how to handle this....
95 Honda Accord - serpentine belt problem?
TPhi: Some points to consider: 1. 95 Accord comes with either a 2.2L (4 cylinder) or 2.7L (6 cylinder). You did not state which engine your son's car has and it makes a difference. 2. The 2.2L has two belts: power steering and alternator (with or without A/C - different belt applications). 3. The 2.7L has three belts: power steering, A/C and alternator. 4. In both cases these belts are not easy to replace (or as mechanics say, nothing is hard, just takes longer). Each of the two or three belts has its own manual tensioner, and there is not a lot of room to work between the pulleys and body of car (the engine is transversely mounted). 5. So depending on which belt required replacing, they may have had to pull off (and adjust) up to two other belts. 6. The shop that worked on the car last year may not have replaced the belt as stated in your records. You really don't know if they, or Meinikee, are telling the truth. When the timing belt was replaced, there could have been a mix up in the shop and an old belt was reinstalled - it has happened to me. 7. As stated in an earlier post, there could be other reasons for the new belt shredding, but most likely it is an application issue (e.g. belt too long) or tension issue (usually too loose). So the $126 for parts and labor sounds about right - possibly a little high, but not necessarily. Tell your son to work with them - be polite, do not demand and ask that they recheck their work. If another issue is seen, ask to have the old parts back for inspection. If a pulley bearing failed it is very obvious. A '95 Honda is a great car, but is getting older and could experience failures. Trust this works out for all! Marc
What could be the cause of throwing my serpentine belt off when I crank to test?
Brian R. Sanderson has it pretty much covered I believe.In order for us to help you better, can you give us your vehicle make, model and year? Also tell us how this started, what was the reason for replacing the belt in the first place?If a pulley is seized it wouldn’t normally jump off right away, but it would squeal very loudly and heat up to a breaking point.One of the pulleys could have a bearing that is loose enough to allow the pulley to shift and allow the belt to jump off, but not that likely.Did you try more than once? Make sure the belt is properly set in all the pulleys.Also make sure you have the right size belt.With the belt removed, check the rotation of each pulley and see if any of them make noise or have friction. Also look at all the pulleys to see if they line up. Did a power steering pump, alternator, or A/C Compressor bolt break causing one of them to be out of alignment?Some more information would help us in solving your issue.Best regards,Delmer.
Help! My serpentine belt just broke. Again.?
I drive a 2006 Scion xB. My serpentine belt just broke for the third time in two months. I'm guessing that the mechanics haven't checked to make sure that the pulleys are aligned. Can that be checked, or can they be re-aligned? And if they cannot be re-aligned, then how can I tell if it is the water pump pulley or the a/c compressor pulley that is the problem? I don't think the tensioner is the problem because the belts have all made a chirping sound at first rather than a squeal. It only starts squealing just before the belt breaks.
What can cause my serpentine belt to snap while driving?
Age is the most likely cause. As rubber ages, it loses volatile compounds. The loss of these compounds has a drying effect that makes the rubber lose its elasticity; it becomes brittle and cracks.The rubber itself doesn't have a lot of tensile strength; the fiber cords (usually cotton or some polymer) provide the tensile strength. The cracks allow water and oxygen to reach the cords, which contributes to deterioration of the cords, weakening them.The failure of a bearing on an idler pulley, in an alternator, water pump, or some other accessory can cause undue abrasive wear on the belt.A rusty pulley can also cause excess wear leading to failure.Finally, someone could have sabotaged the belt by partially cutting through it.
What happens if you attempt to drive with a broken serpentine belt?
The serpentine belt powers many different accessories and required pieces of equipment on an engine. You can live without the air conditioner. The car is usable for a short time without the alternator working if you have a good battery. You can man handle the steering wheel without power steering. Some cars have a smog/emissions control pump that needs to work or the engine will run rough or even not at all.BUT, you will overheat your engine if the water pump is not turning and pumping coolant through the engine and radiator. You could make a short drive of 5 minutes or so before engine heat would be a problem. Hopefully, that is to a mechanic who will replace the broken serpentine belt.
Serpentine Belt Size for 2000 Buick Century NO AC?
Unless the clutch is locked up, the compressor can be bad or locked up and it won't affect the belt at all. The clutch is what engages to turn the compressor, if the clutch isn't engaged it free wheels, just like a plain old idler pulley does. There's no additional drag if the clutch isn't engaged, it would be the same as if you took off the compressor and installed the blank pulley. Just unplug the connector to the clutch, that way no one can accidentally power up the clutch. As for a shorter belt, a/c was standard equipment on the Century,from the best of my memory. There is no non a/c belt per say. If you want to do this, just take the belt off the a/c compressor, pinch the belt together at the closest pulley. Mark the belt at the pinch spots. Take the belt off and measure the length from mark to mark. That will give you a ball park length for what you need.