Well that's interesting

"MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s" (mastermario)
09/12/2016 at 19:20 • Filed to: It broke

Any one have any idea why a relatively new (2 years) serpentine belt would split along its length? Bad belt? Everything spins freely and the tensioner pulley is only 1 year old. I cut it to make removal easier it was only split down its length when it broke. Luckily I was only a mile from home so I limped her home.

DISCUSSION (17)

Brian, The Life of > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
09/12/2016 at 19:25

How old is the car? Check your idler pully(ies) for wear. Sometimes they can be worn to a somewhat conical shape that can force the belt onto the edge of another pully which might stress it unequally.

jimz > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
09/12/2016 at 19:25

is either edge frayed? might be a misaligned pulley. or maybe- does the tensioner ride on the back of the belt, or the groove side? if the latter, does it have the same number of grooves as the belt?

DipodomysDeserti > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
09/12/2016 at 20:52

The belt was probably too tight.

wafflesnfalafel > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
09/12/2016 at 21:34

dang - never seen that happen. I’m voting bad belt... (was it Firestone belt? ha.. joke there.. ha ha..)

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > DipodomysDeserti
09/13/2016 at 00:02

How would you check that?

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Brian, The Life of
09/13/2016 at 00:04

It’s a 93, but I replaced the idler last year

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > jimz
09/13/2016 at 00:05

Neither edge is frayed, the tensioner rides on the back of the belt

DipodomysDeserti > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
09/13/2016 at 00:34

You have to look up the deflection specs for the serp. belt in the manual. It’s usually around 1.5" of flex. You just push down on the belt with your finger (engine off obviously) and see how far you can push it. Could have also been a shitty belt.

Echo51 > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
09/13/2016 at 02:26

Mileage? i lost a not that old belt, but my dad says that was likely because it took a good oil soaking as the engine has had a leak in that end for a good while,.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Echo51
09/13/2016 at 09:38

The belt only has 15-20k, it’s an older truck but it doesn’t have any oil leaks on the front end that I’ve noticed. It’s worth another look though

Echo51 > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
09/13/2016 at 15:52

Could aswell just be general road grime and wear and such.

Urambo Tauro > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
11/16/2016 at 16:20

Did you ever find anything out about this?

A friend of mine just bought a ’94 last night (straight 6) and it looks like he might be dealing with a similar issue. The half of the belt closest to the engine is wearing down more than the “front” half. There is an absolutely HORRENDOUS squealing that might be coming from the tensioner pulley, and I saw a bunch of rubber-like dust on the alternator. It was past dark when I drove him to go pick it up, but I’ll be taking a closer look at it this weekend.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Urambo Tauro
11/16/2016 at 16:25

I think it was a bad belt. I threw on the old belt that this one had replaced just so i could get home. I went and bought a new belt, but haven’t installed it yet. I’ve been running the old belt since then with no issues. Sounds like he needs a new tensioner pulley though. I had to replace the one on my truck shortly after it got it, though I never noticed any odd belt wear.

Urambo Tauro > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
11/16/2016 at 16:39

Hm. I’m not sure if this belt is on its way to splitting like yours did or not. At any rate, that noise is maddeningly awful. It really did sound like it might be coming from the tensioner pulley, but it’s just too loud to be sure yet. He’s picking up a new t-pulley along with the new belt just in case that’s it. But the irregular wear worries me, and the dust on the alternator is suspicious. Definitely worth a closer look.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Urambo Tauro
11/16/2016 at 18:19

Is the alternator aligned correctly? The dust there is a little worrying.

Urambo Tauro > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
11/16/2016 at 18:42

That’s what I was thinking. Maybe someone replaced it and didn’t line it up right. Or maybe the alternator bearings are bad too, and the tensioner noise just happens to be covering it up. I’ll get a chance to check it out more closely this weekend.

Right now he’s got it parked over at a mutual friend’s (the guy with the DIY hoist ) place. So we’re gonna get it in the air and check out some other stuff (oil leaks, etc.) before he starts driving it around.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Urambo Tauro
11/16/2016 at 21:10

That’s a slick hoist. I wish I had friends like that