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Re: Serpentine belt came off on the highway Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Thu, 7 Apr 2005 05:25:00
In Reply to: Serpentine belt came off on the highway, Alice, Wed, 6 Apr 2005 23:25:41 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
I second MI-Roger. A lot depends on how long you were running after the belt came off (alt light came on) and how long the temp gauge was in the red. The biggest risk would be to warping the head/damaging the head gasket. But is is very possible that the loss of coolant was just boil-over. Lack of power, continued overheating, white or grey exhaust while driving, and loss of coolant would be signs of a bad head gasket/warped head.
If the belt idler pulley and tensioner pulley are original, I recommend having them replaced. My personal replacement schedule is the serpentine belt every 30K, and every second belt, I replace those pulleys. They still should be fine at 60K, but I don't trust them to make it to 90K, when I next replace the belt. And parts (like pulleys) can fail sooner. With the belt off, a good mechanic can tell a bad pulley just by spinning it by hand.
Other things to have him/her check is the belt tensioner shock. That's the little piston part of the tensioner assembly. It provides the spring tension to keep the belt tight. Like a shock absorber, it also damps out changes in the belt tension due to loads kicking on and off, like the AC or alternator. The spring part can be fine, but if the damping part stops working, or stops working well, it is possible to jump a belt if the A/C kicks in or some speed resonance is reached. It isn't a cheap part, and doesn't usually fail, but it is worth checking. There are two ways - first, with belt on and the engine running, watch the tensioner pulley movement. It should jiggle a little (maybe 1/8 inch), but not bounce around. When the A/C compressor kicks in, the pulley will move backwards a little - that's OK. It should move smoothly and quickly, and resume the same small jiggle. If it overshoots and bounces a lot before settling down, the shock is bad.
The other way is to stick a big breaker bar on the tensioner pulley bolt and compress the shock. If you can move the bar quickly, the tensioner is bad; if you apply a steady force, and after 5 or 10 seconds it starts to compress, the shock is probably OK.
Also have the mechanic check the main pulley. If the main pulley starts to fail, it can mis-align the belt, causing it to jump. With a new belt on and the engine running, the belt should run in the middle of the tensioner pulley, not to one side. When I do my regular engine checks (oil, coolant, general look-around) I always let the engine idle and watch the belt - make sure it rides in the center of the pulleys, and the tensioner doesn't move a lot.
Good luck, and let's hope that all you did was lose some coolant.
posted by 192.249....
, Thu, 7 Apr 2005 05:25:00 <-- Viewing This Message
, Thu, 7 Apr 2005 03:49:09
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