Serpentine belt

AUSTIN SCOTT

MEMBER
2004 HONDA ACCORD
3.0L
V6
2WD
AUTOMATIC
187,000 MILES

Not even 5 minutes after pulling out of my driveway I get a burning rubber/plastic smell coming from my vents, I’ve lifted my hood as soon as I smell it. I follow my nose and it leads me to my serpentine belt every time. I replaced my old belt and looked for seal leaks from my engine, coolant line leaks, and power steering leaks nothing looks wet under the hood, no puddles under my car or wet spots anywhere. I looked for foreign objects, plastic bags, anything that could’ve flew up and got stuck on something hot and started melting. I’m thinking it’s one of my pulleys but my power steering works fine, A/C works fine, alternator is still charging my battery just fine. Please help.

1 Reply

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,885 POSTS

Hi,

What I would suggest is to remove the belt and see if there is resistance in any of the pulleys. There could be one that is locked up and the belt is sliding around it and still turning the other components. That would cause the smell.

There was a technical service bulletin (TSB) that was out regarding the belt tensioner replacement. A small portion of the timing belt cover needs to be trimmed for clearance purposes. This was when the tensioner was replaced, but I'm adding it in the event that the belt is rubbing it. See the pics below.

Let me know if this helps or if you have other questions. Also, let me know what you find. I'm interested in knowing.

Take care,

Joe

See pics below.

Images (Click to make bigger)