Belt Shredding

[swexlin]

Belt Shredding - UPDATE

I started my truck this morning, and heard the ummistakeable sound of the belt shredding. Half of it was wrapped around the fan spindle, had to spend 1/2 hour with dykes cutting it off.



Truck is not driveable - even at idle, it continues to shred.



Tow truck on it's way to take to the dealer, whose service isn't open on Saturdays. 5400 miles on the truck. I'm NOT happy. :-{}

 

[RWoody]

I had the belt shred at 1200 miles. It appears the the belt was put on wrong at the fatory. Dealer replaced belt. Have not had any more problems have 6k on truck now. It was very irritating. Hope it is not too serious. I had the dealership open on sunday to fix my problem.

 

[swexlin]

A word for those of you with duallies - NO ONE wants to tow them



DC's Roadside Service was a joke - even though I SPECIFICALLY told them dually, the lady was "having trouble". I told her to keep trying. Finally, they found a service (a company near me who I know), but when he got here, his flatbed couldn't handle the truck, because DC hadn't told him it was a dually.



Long story short, my dealer was open by this time, I called and got the name of the local company they used. Flatbedded me 6 miles - $70. 00.



How do I go about submitting a claim for reimbursement?



And, I'll post on Monday after I hear the diagnosis from my dealer. I'm sure they'll have to order part. So, right now, I'm driving the Neon (which, by the way, I drive into the ground, don't maintain NEAR as well as my trucks, and in four years has never failed me).



I'm becoming WELL acqainted with tow truck driver's this year. First my Ford, now my Dodge. :-{}

 

[TexasDodgeRam]

My belt also shredded with less than 5k miles. They replaced it and said it was installed wrong. Only time will tell.

 

[EKoster]

When I was at the dealership we were driving a '04. 5 Cummins around, looking at other trucks. We parked the truck for a second to look at another one. Yeap, sure enough I heard some real funny noises on the truck. Popped the hood, a layer of the belt was shredded. The truck had around 30 some odd miles on it.



I have 600 miles on my truck and so far so good. *fingers crossed*

 

[John - K5AWO]

It is very easy to get the crank pulley off by 1 thread on the serpentine belts. At first glance, all will be okay, but it don't take long for the pulleys to make mince meat of a miss aligned belt.

 

[swexlin]

I had the belt shred at 1200 miles. It appears the the belt was put on wrong at the fatory. Dealer replaced belt.

My belt also shredded with less than 5k miles. They replaced it and said it was installed wrong. Only time will tell.

Popped the hood, a layer of the belt was shredded. The truck had around 30 some odd miles on it.

So that's three others. Interesting. How many people who don't post here have had this happen, I wonder. How many before there could be a TSB?

It is very easy to get the crank pulley off by 1 thread on the serpentine belts. At first glance, all will be okay, but it don't take long for the pulleys to make mince meat of a miss aligned belt.

I'm not sure I understand. You're saying that the pulley itself is possibly misaligned?

 

[John - K5AWO]

OOPS!



I didn't state that very well. Before we have a TSB "need to have" scare... .



It is NOT the pulleys that are miss aligned, it is the mechanic's head "pun" that is miss aligned. If he is not careful, it is very easy to get the serpentine belt off by one notch in the grooves.



I did it myself not 3 weeks ago, but caught it as soon as the belt tensioner was released. The crank pulley had 1/2 of a groove showing on the back side of the pulley (nearest to engine). That meant that I had put the belt on with the front side of the belt riding up on the edge of the pulley, NOT down in the groove where it belonged.



That stretches the part of the belt that is riding high and belt separation is not very far away.



It is an easy thing to do. But careful inspection before the engine is started is all that is necessary.



-John

 

[swexlin]

Thanks John, I get it now. While I'll find out tomorrow, it seems that some of these may have been installed incorrectly on the line. I guess it is a human doing the install, thus, room for human error.

 

[231jasonS]

mine went away at about 6000 miles. It started making noises and about 1000 miles later it started to shred.



The dealer replaced it and now 5000 miles later no problems.

 

[swexlin]

mine went away at about 6000 miles. It started making noises and about 1000 miles later it started to shred.

That's number four who has replied that their 04. 5 has shredded within the first few thousand miles. So WHAT is causing this? The dealers just replace belts? Doesn't seem encouraging. There must be some sort of defect, I just can't believe that these are being installed wrong.



My dealer hasn't even LOOKED at my truck yet. Towed in on Saturday, now Tuesday evening. It's a friggin' belt, not an engine rebuild. This is the dealer from whom I have bought a car and two other trucks (but not this one). Always treated me right, and never dragged their feet. I'm thinking that since this is warrranty work, PLUS I didn't buy the truck from them, they're dragging their feet. Plus, the KNOW they have me by the short hairs, because the truck is not driveable. LUCKILY I have a spare car, and LUCKILY I do not depend on this truck for my livelihood.



My relationship with the legendarily reliable Cummins engine is NOT starting out on the right foot.

 

[swexlin]

Update

UPDATE:



Finally got truck back today. All they did was replace the belt, said original "defective". Told me the tech test drove three miles, then they let it idle 1. 5 hours , and all appears ok.



I drove it hard the six miles home, and inspected it. There *appears* to be about a millimeter or so "wobble" of the belt on the pullies, but it appears to be tracking. I cant see that the pullies themselves are wobbling.



You know, as you look at the routing of these belts, it is not hard to envision even a teeny tiney stone kicking up from underneath and getting sucked in between the belt and a pulley - enough to make it ride off.



There are also a couple of rough spots at the edges of the belt. I'm will say I'm going to be paranoid for a couple days, and check this thing out after any lenghthy drive.

 

[JohnnyH]

Idle 1. 5 hours? Unbelievable.

 

[swexlin]

Johnny, as I replied over on DTR, I don't mind they did this - I think it is actually good - they WANTED to make sure that the belt was going to track straight over an extended period of time.



Of course, I am going to be checking this periodically (read:every day ), until I get peace of mind that is really was merely a "defective" belt. You can tell I'm not convinved.

 

[Jengle]

Scott, for your own peace of mind, you might want to get a spare belt and carry the necessary tools to replace one, in case it dumps you on the road. At least until you are sure the new one is going to last.

 

[swexlin]

your own peace of mind, you might want to get a spare belt and carry the necessary tools to replace one, in case it dumps you on the road. At least until you are sure the new one is going to last

You're right, I usually also carry spare fuel filters (and in the Ford PSD, a spare CPS).



These belts are hard to come by around here - my dealer had to order one. Anywhere online that would be a quick order come to mind?