Is the timing belt the same thing as the serpentine belt?
Absolutely not. You can see what the serpentine belt does, and its condition. And in reality, with effort, you can get by for a few miles without one.A timing belt, or timing chain, is hidden in the engine and coordinates all the internal moving parts. You cannot see it’s wear, or the sludge that accumulates on it from poor oil, poor oil change policy, or short trips. When it fails, in most cases your engine will self destruct as the valves may be down when the pistons come up. Do not go beyond the recommended change interval.
When should a car's serpentine and timing belts be replaced?
Timing belt - every 60000 miles if you have an interference engine, every 100k miles if you do not have an interference engine (the difference being that if your timing belt breaks and you have an interference engine, it will cause engine damage, if you do not have an interference engine, all it will do is make the car stop running and do no further damage). Knowing whether or not you have an interference engine is sort of a complex subject but you can general use it by googling your car and the term "interference engine". BTW "interference engine" literally means that when the piston is at the top of its stroke, it occupies space that is also occupied by either the intake or exhaust valves when they are open. When the timing belt breaks on an interference engine the valves stop but the pistons keep going for a bit and smack into the valves, and cause all sorts of bad things.Anyway, serpentine belts. If you want to be on the safe side, 60k miles. But if the belt looks and feels new and strong, doesn't have any cracks, and isn't squealing, I see no reason to replace it so early in most modern cars. However, if you're still on the original belt at 100k, it's probably best to go get it done. Again, it's one of those things that at the worst case it will just leave you stranded on the side of the road and can't really do any engine damage.
Whats the difference between a serpentine belt timing belt and fan belt?
A timing belt is not a serpentine belt. A timing belt has "cogs" (teeth) so that the cogged drive pulley (crankshaft) and the cogged driven pulley (camshaft) are always within the same reference to each other, or "timed". The timing belt is always covered. You can't see it or get access to it unless you remove the cover. A serpentine belt is a "poly-v" belt that is flat, and runs around all the accessories. Some accessories which require a lot of power to be transmitted by the belt (such as the alternator and the air conditioning compressor) have contact with the "v" side of the belt, and other things which do not require power to be transmitted by the belt (like water pump, idler pulley or tensioner pulley) ride on the flat side of the belt. A true "fan belt" is from the time before I was born (1953). It was a v-belt that the crankshaft drove the radiator fan. Later, the water pump(s) and the generator (electrical charging system device before the alternator) was also driven by a belt, and often the fan belt. Since around mid 1980s, serpentine belt useage replaced v-belt usage. Probably any car that is as old as you, or newer, just has a serpentine belt for everything except the camshaft, and is the only belt that you will see. Overhead valve engines don't have a timing belt, they have a timing chain, whichbus within the engine, and lubricated with engine oil. Overhead cam engines (usually inline 4 cylinders) have a rubber cogged timing belt, which is not inside the engine, and not lubricated with engine oil, but is on the outsude if the engine, but covered with a belt guard. Also, cars that are your age or newer have electric fans, so no cars really have a belt for several decades.
Is a Timing belt same as a serpentine belt?
Simple answer no. ==== DETAIL ==== Timing belt drives the cams (the valves that opens and closes to let the pistons of your engine breath). Often timing belt will also drive the water pump (but not always). The serpentine belt drives everything else like the AC compressor, alternator, power steering. Usually when you open the hood of your car you will be able to see a black belt "snaking" around lots of pulley. That's why it is called serpentine belt. The timing belt is usually hidden inside few covers so not visible. All Over Head Cam (or Over Head Valve) cars have timing belts (or timing chain). $400 for timing belt is little bit high but not for the dealer. As a comparison, I own an Audi A4 and the Audi dealer (in NYC) wants $1300 for timing belt & water pump ($900 for just the timing belt). The cost of sepentine belt (part) is very cheap so the dealer might want to just replace that too (given they would have to take that off during the timing belt also). Your wife could have confused this as saying "they are the saming thing." When you get your timing belt done, ask if the water pump is driven by the timing belt. If it is, you should get it replaced together. The reason is that the parts are fairly cheap but the labor is pretty high to get to these parts, so replaced them together (to save $$ down the line). Otherwise you will be spending another $400 few thousand mile down the road just to do the water pump. These days, the only new part that goes into a tune-up is new spark plugs. Good luck. === Don't forget to vote for the BEST ANSWER - please - whoever it may be. FACT: You also get +3 points when you vote for BEST ANSWER
How does a timing belt differ from a serpentine belt?
The simple answer is, that a timing belt has “teeth” or “notches”, whilst the serpentine belt doesn’t. A serpentine belt, can be found in hundreds, or even thousands of applications, where movement from one pulley needs to be transferred to another one. The main charisteristic of the serpentive belt is its v shaped cross section, and the shape has been choosen to get maximum friction between pulleys and belt, in order to get maximum transfer of power; if there is some slippage, that does not matter. In the case of a timing belt, it is super extremely important, that no slippage occurs…slippage would be disastrous for the engine, …. damage could vary between loss of power to a wrecke engine..hence the teeth on the belt, and the form of the pulleys. Basicly a timing belt replaces a chain…..In my opinion, its a cheap solution for the valve drive; timing belts are much less reliable then chains, and need to be replaced at some choosen interval, and hope for the best in between intervals.Oops that was not part of the question…extra:)
What’s the difference between a timing chain and a serpentine belt? I recently had my timing chain replaced but they reported it as a serpentine belt to my car fax.
The biggest difference is typically several hundred dollars on your bill. The timing chain drives the camshafts inside the engine and is bathed in oil. Because a timing chain is inside the engine the labor to replace one is high. A serpentine belt or "serp", on the other hand, (not to be confused with a timing belt as they are vastly different) is on the outside of the engine and drives the engine's accessories. Serpentine belts get their name because they wrap around the various accessory pulleys on the front of the engine much like the undulations of a serpent. A new serpentine belt has no effect on the value or desirability of a car but because new timing chains represent a major repair they can make a car much more desirable and may sometimes lead to a better price for the car. I would insist they correct their error!
What is a serpentine belt?
Serpentine belts go around the various pulleys that power the various engine components and accessories. They loop over pulleys with both the ribbed side in contact with the pulley and the smooth side also in contact with the pulleys. They follow a serpentine path. They use a spring loaded tensioner to get the belt to pulley contact at optimal tension. There is no need to adjust the alternator or other accessory to keep the belt tight.From 6 o’clock, the below serpentine belt goes around the main crank shaft pulley then up over the water pump/fan pulley in the center to the power steering pump at 5 o’clock to the alternator at 1 o’clock then down to an idler pulley then to the left to the spring loaded tensioner pulley at 11 o’clock and back down to the main crank shaft pulley.Behind and to the lower left is a belt that goes from the air conditioning compressor over an idler tensioner to the main crank shaft pulley and back to the A/C compressor.The prior belt arrangement used V-belts where the the V shape of the belt fit into the pulley. There was little or no contact on the back of the V-belt. An car may have had up to 3 different V-belts that needed to be carefully tensioned.
Are a serpentine belt and a timing belt the same thing?
No. A serpentine belt is on the outside of the engine. It runs the air conditioner, alternator, power steering, etc. The timing belt is on the inside of the engine. It syncronizes the crankshaft with the camshaft.
What is the difference between a timing belt and a Serpentine belt?
To install a timing belt takes a bunch more work, a small part of the engine must be dismantled to access it, the engine must be turned to proper alignment of the timing, installed correctly, and put back together.....normally about $150. For a serpentine belt you just loosen the tensioner bolt and slip it off....5 minutes.
Whats the difference between a 5 rib or 6 rib serpentine belt?
i own a 2004 bmw 545i an it needs a new belt, at first , i always thought every car had its own standard type belt with a certain number of ribs it had to have, but im looking on some site with my car selected, an they offer the belts in 3 ribs all the way to 8 ribs, my question is, will there be any differance if i were to buy a 5 rib rather than a 6 rib? what are the advantages? thanks