Serpentine belt keeps breaking?

Hello,

It absolutely could causing this. As a matter of fact that would be my prime culprit for this is a component that's bearing has seized up causing the pulley to lock up. Usually what will happen with a tensioner is that the arm will usually get a little bent and it will cause the belt to come off at higher rpm's or the spring will lose tension allowing the belt to come off, but not shred unless it get caught in something else. I would double check to compressor pulley operation and get back to us with what you are able to find out.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros

Serpentine belt shredded, replaced belt and pulley, the car ran for 20 mins and began to smoke due to the second belt being shredded again. The car has a lot of miles but was running alright until this. What are some possible issues that could be causing the belt to shredd repeatedly? I am trying to decide if cost outweighs benefits of repairing the car

With belt off, check the pulleys, especially the belt tensioner pulley and the idler pulley one or both may be frozen, and does not wobble, make sure the belt tensioner is free to turn easily. If pulley are OK then check the belt for belt alignment.

If the a/c compressor is the problem. you can disconnect the wires going to the a/c compressor.

if serpintine belt is a little bit off does it matter?

Yup. If a serpentine belt is off by 1/16", it has to slide across the pulley as it goes around it. Look for a worn bearing in the tensioner pulley. I can see the tensioner is worn out and needs replacement.

Been having an issue with the serpentine belt continuously breaking, changed several parts most recently the power steering pump. Now that that pump has been changed I can barely turn the wheel on hard or right/left turns. Small turns are fine but not sharp turns. Is the normal to occur for awhile until the pump breaks in?

As far as the belts breaking, make sure there are no pulleys that are not aligned. The PS pump doesn't require a break in. Make sure that the air has been bled from the system and it should work.

I'm not mechanically inclined so I'll try to be as direct as possible with the symptoms and issues. I'm the third owner of my car and have had it for a year and a half with minimal issues (some oil leaks and transmission fluid leaks). A few weeks back I was driving on the freeway on a really hot day (about 110 degrees) when my a/c began to cut out. My husband finally realized if we stayed under 55 mph the a/c would stay on. From that day on the car made funny noises when started. I drove my car this way for another week or two (stupidly I know) until one morning while driving the serpentine belt broke. My husband took a look at the car to see if he could replace the belt, but noticed the pulley to the a/c was loose. Now he doesn't think it's such an easy repair. Is there more to this than just the pulley and serpentine belt? Is there potentially something wrong with the a/c even though it worked the entire time (when engaged it made the worse sounds) I had these issues? Any help would be appreciated! We're just wondering if this is going to cost us a small fortune! Thanks!

Hi there,

This may be a case of a failed idler pulley bearing, or the comp may be failing, the clutch on the compressor should spin freely with the air off, and the idler pulley should also spin freely with no side movement, noise or harshness, check these out, if the pulley is faulty no big deal, but if the comp is failing this will be more expensive depending on what the problem is, check this out first.

mark (mhpautos)

The belt keeps being worn and broke, my husband believes it is the A/C part. Is it safe to bypass that A/C part? If so what size of belt do you use?

Hi and thanks for using 2CarPros.com

If the AC compressor is locked up, the pulley will not turn and burn up the belt. If that is the case, here is what I recommend. If you do not plan on repairing the compressor, I suggest getting an AC bypass pulley. Basically, the pulley takes the place of the compressor. The problem with doing it differently is there is no proper way to re-route the serpentine belt. Some people try getting a smaller belt, but most times it does not work.

Call your local parts store and see if they can get you an "AC Bypass Pulley". There is a company that manufacturers many aftermarket components. If you google search Dorman 34151, that should be the part you need. And yes, there are other companies that make them. I only mention this company because they are widely know.

Please do not order the part based on the part number I provided without confirming it is correct with the parts store. I think you will find the part is basically the same price as a new belt.

Let me know if this helps or if you have any other questions.

Take care,
Joe

Belt keeps shredding, second time.

Hello,

This is probably a problem with your serpentine belt tensioner. I have a Ford Mustang GT 4.6L with a Vortech V1 supercharger and my engine is very susceptible to the belt shredding since the serpentine belt also turns the supercharger. What happens is the tensioner checks bent or the internal spring gets weak and the belt will loose tension, partially come off, and shred. On my vehicle it happens at higher RPM's. Replace the serpentine belt tensioner, per instructions in the documents below and get back to us with how everything turns out.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros