Belt Problems

[AKimmel]

I'm having a problem with my truck trying to eat belts. I had about 7,000 miles on my last Mopar belt that I just took off. I've been noticing a constant belt noise, so I took the belt off to make sure nothing was freezing up or loose, and all checked good, but the belt had wear from it riding on top of the grooves instead of in them. I thought possibly I had a bad belt from the start or when I painted my motor the paint caused the belt to wear funny until it wore off. Well I put another new Mopar belt on, and it doesn't make noise, but I can watch the belt trying to run off track at the fan pulley. It acts like the fan pulley is too far back, but the donor truck had over 100K miles on it, and I would think someone would have seen this problem long ago if thats the case. I know I can shim the pulley foward and possibly fix it, but I have a gut feeling that something else is causing this. The only things I changed on the motor, were a new water pump, pulley on the tensioner and alternator. I'm thinking the possible problems are a weak tensioner or defectively cast water pump causing the belt to come off at an angle toward the fan pulley. So anybody else have this problem?

 

[Steve Graham]

I've gone through the same symptoms on my 92 at about 120K. The belt tentioner was replaced and that cured the problem.

 

[MMeier]

Sounds like a tensioner problem.

 

[rlyons]

My tensioner was worn where it swivels and was causing the belt to ride off to the rear and eventually shredded the belt.

 

[Steve Graham]

Forget to mention, when my tenensioner went sour, I was working out of town. The belt was jumping groves on the AC pully so I told the service guy It might be the AC pump! Lucky for me he was honest and only charged me for a tenensioner.

 

[MAllen1]

Had the same "type" of problem with a 97 jeep grand with a 5. 9 gasser. What caused the problem was the bracket that held the power steering unit on to the engine was cracked and caused the belt to do all sorts of things b4 i figured it out. Just threw that out as an FYI.

 

[AKimmel]

Were those of you that had success after replacing the tensioner. Was your belt having problems at the A/C compressor? That would make since, because thats the next thing the belt gets to after the tensioner. Mine makes it past that, then over the alternator, under the water pump, and then my problem shows up. My tensioner has no play front to rear, but could it simply not having enough spring pressure that allows the belt to walk foward at the fan pulley?

 

[JZellers]

Mine showed itself at the compressor. It rode over the edge of the pulley by a couple ribs and shreaded. Not only was it wore, the plastic pulley on the tensioner was almost worn through.

 

[MMiller]

The belt tensioner gets enough wear in it, and it runs crooked, then the belt runs over the a/c compressor pulley and tries to push the belt off the front of the pulley. On my truck the belt started squeeling because the belt was rubbing on the arm of the tensioner. I was away from home on a Saturday night, so I kept driving. It then started to run the belt off the front of the compressor and it peeled the front rib off the belt. I need a new tensioner, belt and fan clutch.



I agree with everyone else, replace the tensioner.



Michael

 

[flatlander]

FWIW My wife's minivan had the same symptoms, the tensioner didn't look bad, so I went through several belts first, figuring I'd installed them wrong, but that's what it turned out to be, the tensioner (not the pulley, but the tensioner itself) just like everyone else...

 

[dpuckett]

I had a tensioner that was warped, cocked askew, whatever you want to phrase it, that was eating belts. Replaced tensioner and all is well.



Daniel