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Car Belt Questions and Answers - This category contains featured questions
as examples. They relate to most vehicles.
Question: 2001 Chrysler Town & Country mileage: 85,000. I have a great auto
mechanic that I've used for 20 years and I trust him completely. However, I seem
to have a problem that he cannot fix. My serpentine belt has been replaced about
four times over the past six months (the tensioner has been replaced at least twice)
and keeps breaking. It's not a matter of money... my mechanic is standing by his
repair work and does not charge me... but the belt issue is very annoying. It seems
any new belt we put on starts squealing after about three weeks on the car, and
then about two weeks later it comes off and leaves me stranded. Any help you can
provide here will be greatly appreciated.
Answer: Yes, we have seen this problem before in the shop, check your
engine mounts. You will find that they have broken. This allows the engine to torque
to the side and brake the tensioner.
Question: 1998 Breeze Acclaim V6 mileage: 100,000. Hi guys, I have a quick
question regarding the alt. belt in my 1993 Plymouth Acclaim. Last year during the
winter the alt. serpentine belt fell off while backing out of some deep snow. I
put the belt back on. This summer the belt started squealing so I replaced it. Now
the belt has fallen off three times already when driving through rain puddles. What
can I do to prevent the belt from falling off when driving through puddles (the
puddles are not that big...everyone else can go through them)?
Answer: Check the belt tensioner, try to wobble it side to side if you
get excessive movement the part is bad and needs replacing.
Question: 1999 Ford Ranger Supercab mileage: 83,000. About 2 weeks
ago I noticed a rather annoying belt squeak. The sound came only after initially
cranking over the engine, turning on the A/C, and turning the corner or steering
one way or the other. The noise is quite an attention getter and usually provokes
a chuckle of superiority from pedestrians and motorists. To take it a step
further my beloved truck stalled at a stoplight today. It was very hot today
95+ degrees and again, the shrieking wild animal noises come when the A/C is on.
HELP.
Answer: A fan belt starts to squeak because it is slipping on the pulleys.
This in turn causes the belt to glaze over. We would advise replacing the
belt and the belt tensioner in this situation.
Question: 1999 Isuzu Rodeo V6 mileage: 60,000. My fan belt broke.
I purchased a new one. It’s the exact same size as the old one. My problem
is I can't get it on. I've tried to loosen the alternator the compressor and
the power steering pump and still no luck. There is, what it looks like is
an adjustable wheel just left of the compressor, but I’m not sure. Can you
please help me solve my problem?
Answer: It sounds as if the adjustable wheel you mentioned is the spring
loaded tensioner for the belt. With a pry bar, pry the tensioner to facilitate
installing the new belt.
Question: 2004 Toyota Camry 4 cyl mileage: 42,700. I don't want my
belts and hoses to break while driving. I'd like to have them replaced early
to help avoid this happening. At what mileage do you suggest an early replacement?
Answer: Under normal circumstances you should replace your drive belts every
two years or 25,000 miles which ever occurs first.
Question: 1999 Mazda mx3 mileage: 104,000. My car makes this loud squealing
noise when I start it and then it stops. I was told it was my air conditioner belt,
but I had it looked at and it wasn't worn so they put some belt dressing on it and
it stopped, for awhile. Now it's squealing even worst even when I'm just stopping
at a red light. What should I do?Answer: You will probably have
to replace the air-conditioner belt. Once a belt starts to squeal the sides
of the belt glaze over and no adjusting or treatment will permanently stop the squealing.
Question: 1999 Buick/regal 3.1 mileage: 65,000. I am getting ready
to replace the serpentine belt and need to know if replacing the automatic tensioner
is advised. The belt is not that bad, but i thought it was about time. Thank
you!Answer: Yes, it is a good idea to replace the belt tensioner when
you replace the belt. Over time, the spring inside gets weak and looses tension.
Question: 1998 Mitsubishi Galant mileage: 109,500. It has recently
started making a squealing noise when I start it up. It has gotten even worse
through this cold spell that we had recently; but after the car warms up the noise
stops. I've been told that it is just the fan belts, which sounds right, but
I still don't know what to do. My question is: Is there anything that I can
do or do I need to invest in new belts?
Answer: You can find out if it is the belts by doing an easy test.
With the engine cold, remove the belts and start the engine. If you don’t
here the squealing that you described, then you will know that it is your fan belts
making the noise. Do not run the engine any longer than 1 minute without the
fan belts.
Question: 1999 FORD XLT Truck mileage: 117,000. When I start my engine,
cold only, I hear a squealing noise, like the serpentine belt. The noise goes
away after the engine warms up a little. About a year ago, I replaced the
belt with a FORD factory belt. Help?
Answer: Replace the spring loaded belt tensioner.
Question: 1999 Toyota Tercel mileage: 102,000. I just rebuilt this
motor due to bad rings from the Toyota Company, now it runs fine but keeps breaking
a water pump and alternator belt. I replaced the water pump and had the alternator
checked and rebuilt due to it had no output voltage. I replaced and fixed
all of this but I still have the same problem. When I start the car up it
sounds and runs smooth but after a few minutes, it starts to squeal. Before
when I would check the belts I noticed a plastic dust in the area of the water pump
and Alternator. Could you give me any solutions to fix this problem?
Thank youAnswer: Check the alignment of the pulleys the belts ride on.
If the pulleys are misaligned, belt failure will occur.
Question: 1999 Chevy k 2500 truck mileage: 39,927. MY question is this,
my belt won’t stop squealing I’ve tried the sprays and the jellies, even tried rubbing
a bar of soap on the belt while the engine was running. None of this worked for
very long, actually all of this broke down the belt to where, I had too replace
the belt. All the pulley's and tensioners are straight and inline.Answer:
Try cleaning the pulleys. With a new good quality belt, clean pulleys and
proper belt tensioner, it should be quiet.
Question: 1995 Plymouth Voyager 3.0 v-6. Can you tell me the proper
alignment for the V-drive belt on this car and motor? I cannot find the proper
information. The belt broke and am ready to put back together and I have check
different books and can not come up with the proper info on this if have a picture
to send would help. ThanksAnswer: We wish we could help you
here. However, it is almost impossible to describe how the belts should be
installed. We suggest you find another Plymouth and check it for belt placement.
If you see one for sale, maybe the owner would let you look at his/hers.
Question: 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan LE 3.3L mileage: 89,000. I have
recently replaced the V belt on my Caravan. There is a belt tensioner that
seemed to be very stiff to unmovable but I managed to replace the belt. Now
on turns, the car squeals. I assume it is time to replace the tensioner but
I can only find the pulley not the tensioner itself. Is this a dealer part?
Is this a do it yourself repair? How do I fix it? Helpful suggestions
appreciated.Answer: Yes, the tensioner is a dealer only item and
is not too difficult to replace.
Question: Hi, I have a question on timing belts. Apparently, my car has two
of them. I wonder if one is a "backup" in case the other one breaks or they both
fail if one of them breaks. Thanks! DonAnswer: Each timing belt your car
has is for a separate purpose. One belt is not a "back up" belt. If one belt fails,
the second is probably close to failing also.
Question: 1999 Hyundai Elantra 5 speed mileage: 110000. Hi guys, my question
is, about a year ago, I had my timing belt replaced; it was a preventative maintenance
repair, not because it broke. Then after about 3 months, my car lost power on the
highway one day, I took it to a repair shop, and it was determined that the timing
belt was not installed properly (it was off by a couple of teeth). Ever since then,
the car has had a rough idle. Now because of the rough idle, it causes the muffler
to shake, and make a weird noise. I'm trying to sell the car now, but I would like
to fix the rough idle first, if it isn't to expensive. Is raising the idle speed
a little a good thing to do, or is this an even bigger problem?
Answer: You can try raising the idle speed but we do not think it will
smooth out the idle. You may have a bigger problem. Have a compression check done
on the engine; it may check low. When the timing belt was off "by a couple of teeth,"
that changed the timing between the valves and the pistons. That change may have
resulted in a valve hitting a piston bending a valve or two.
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