How Often Should You Change Serpentine Belt

When to Replace Serpentine Belts

Belts go on to be one of the nearly replaced wear items on vehicles today. Serpentine belts concluding a lot longer than older V-belts ever did, but they all the same wear out over time. The typical replacement interval for serpentine belts and flat belts today is effectually xc,000 miles – which for many vehicles ways only once every seven to nine years! That's a lot of miles between belt changes.

Today'due south hoses are fifty-fifty longer-lived cheers to much improved synthetic rubbers such as EPDM. However, older high-mileage hoses should be closely examined and replaced when the cooling organization is serviced. Recommend new hoses (and clamps) if a customer is changing a water pump, radiator or heater core.

Serpentine belts tin can be tricky to supplant because of the way in which they are routed and because of limited admission in a tight engine compartment. Although nearly late-model belt drive systems use a single belt, some applications also may have a dissever belt for an accompaniment such as the A/C compressor or ability steering pump. What'due south more, some applications may apply a secondary "stretch fit" chugalug that has no traditional adjustment. Installing i of these requires a special tool to slip the belt over the pulleys without dissentious the belt.

Many belt drive systems too contain decoupling pulleys to dampen noise and vibration. All the same, belt noise is notwithstanding a common complaint and reason for replacement. When the Five-ribs on the underside of a serpentine belt become worn, the belt may slip and brand noise. It's hard to run across this type of wearable, so a belt wear gauge tool should be used to mensurate the depth of the grooves in the belt. If the belt is worn, information technology's time for a new belt.

Belt noise also can be acquired by misalignment betwixt pulleys. These include a misaligned power steering pump caster, idler caster(south), automatic belt tensioner pulley, h2o pump pulley (which may be due to wear in the pump shaft bearings), and even a worn or loose harmonic balancer. This type of misalignment can be difficult to see, so pulley alignment should exist advisedly checked with a straight edge or a laser alignment tool.

By the time a worn belt needs to exist replaced, chances are other components in the belt drive system also may demand attending. No. 1 among these is the automatic belt tensioner. Over time, the spring that maintains belt tension can weaken. Rust, corrosion, and wear as well tin can cause binding that prevents the tensioner from rotating normally to maintain proper belt tension. Belt palpitate or belt noise when revving the engine are indications of a weak tensioner.

Bearing wearable in idler pulleys also can create noise and misalignment. The bearings are sealed and cannot exist relubricated, so if an idler pulley is noisy or wobbling it needs to be replaced.

Changing a serpentine belt ordinarily requires a long handle breaker bar or special tool to rotate the chugalug tensioner and so the chugalug can be slipped off the pulleys. If there is no belt routing decal under the hood (which many cars lack), your client should snap a photo of the chugalug earlier it is removed with a telephone camera, or make a simple drawing of how it is routed. Information technology's easy to misroute a serpentine belt if you tin't remember how information technology was positioned before it was removed. A certain sign of misrouting is if the chugalug seems to be too long or as well brusque for the awarding, or if it won't slip over the last pulley, or it is loose after it has been installed.

Installation problems can be avoided by comparing the length of the old and new belts to brand sure they are exactly the same length and width.

Finally, recommend a elevation quality proper noun brand replacement chugalug. No-proper noun inexpensive quality belts won't last similar a quality belt.