Marks on outer side of serpentine belt

DCKELLEY

MEMBER
1998 BUICK PARK AVENUE
3.8L
V6
2WD
AUTOMATIC
190,000 MILES

I had some chirping from my serpentine belt so I had a mechanic replace it. He said he could see stretch marks on the outside of the belt. Lines going around the belt. I had told him to check everything out, but he forgot to check pulleys etc. A week or so after changing the belt the AC compressor started making noise and he's changing it. Now the new belt is showing stretching marks. Can this happen? Belt wear that fast and showing on the outside? Lines and wear he's checking everything out this time. He's not making money on these belts. This is my car that was sitting for a year. I thought there may be something rubbing on the top of the belt but I didn't see anything. Tensioner seems good.

8 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
108,262 POSTS

Hi and welcome to 2CarPros.

A belt should last a lot longer. When you say stretch marks, I can't picture what you mean because if the belt stretches, it is so minimal and happens over a long period of time. As a result, you never see them. If there are marks, I would first confirm that the pulleys are all aligned and the belt is riding centered on each one.

Let me know what you find.

Joe

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Saturday, February 9th, 2019 AT 9:54 PM

DCKELLEY

MEMBER
125 POSTS

I thought this seemed strange. The lines i'm talking about go all the way around the belt. I wonder if I even need a new belt. And if this guy knows what he's talking about. The lines weren't there before he put it in. I'm stumped. I wish I had a picture. Not lines almost groves like it was damaged. I'll let you know if I find anything out. :/ Marks/groves/lines circle the complete belt three of them are on the top of belt. He seemed to diagnosed the stretched belt by those marks. He's a $40.00 an hour mechanic cheap but I thought he knew what he was doing.

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Saturday, February 9th, 2019 AT 10:06 PM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
108,262 POSTS

Welcome back:
The tension on the belt is done by an automatic belt tensioner, so it can't over tighten the belt. I attached a picture of the belt routing which includes the tensioner. The tensioner is number 2 in the picture.

Let me know if I can help.

Take care,
Joe

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Saturday, February 9th, 2019 AT 10:47 PM

DCKELLEY

MEMBER
125 POSTS

Turned out he reused the belt that I had just put on it. He must have realized it was good. Brakes and he put in a used condenser. $80.00. However, a block away and my drivers side tire fell off. He forgot to tighten the lugs. Man was he embarrassed. Said he was working on too many things at once that day. If I use him again he won't live that down. After it happened though I heard from a few guys had similar things happen. Expensive mechanics and cheap ones. I got lucky I was going only 5 mph on a back road.

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Monday, February 11th, 2019 AT 7:40 PM

DCKELLEY

MEMBER
125 POSTS

Which leads me to another question. I've heard these can rust out in that front frame area. Mine looks good. But what holds everything together in the rear and sides? When he had to put a jack under the side, quite a bit of rust fell to the ground. Any area I should keep an eye on?