Serp Belt Failure on 04.5s - My Theory
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Serp Belt Failure on 04.5s - My Theory
Let me preface this by saying, I'm a mechanical idiot, so this is just a guess. Yet ANOTHER gent over on TDR had his belt fail on his truck, with only a few thousand miles. So, that makes at least 8 of us, who frequent the forum boards (based upon replies to my prior thread, and others) who have had this failure.
So, I went out today and reexamined my replacement belt; about 3000 miles on it now. The pulley at the bottom passenger side of the engine, attached to..what pump is that? If there is going to be a derailment, I think this is the place. There is NO room for error for a mis-installed belt. The first rib (from the front of the engine) rides RIGHT THERE in the first groove. There is maybe a millimeter or so of pulley edge showing. It seems to me that it wouldn't take alot, say a small pebble getting kicked in there, or even going over a large enough bump, because the "SLIGHTEST" misalignment could cause that belt to mis-track on that edge, wear, and eventually fail.
That being said, I think that some of these may have not been aligned right when installed coming down the assembly line, and, after a few thousand miles---failure. There you have it...my theory.
Comments?
So, I went out today and reexamined my replacement belt; about 3000 miles on it now. The pulley at the bottom passenger side of the engine, attached to..what pump is that? If there is going to be a derailment, I think this is the place. There is NO room for error for a mis-installed belt. The first rib (from the front of the engine) rides RIGHT THERE in the first groove. There is maybe a millimeter or so of pulley edge showing. It seems to me that it wouldn't take alot, say a small pebble getting kicked in there, or even going over a large enough bump, because the "SLIGHTEST" misalignment could cause that belt to mis-track on that edge, wear, and eventually fail.
That being said, I think that some of these may have not been aligned right when installed coming down the assembly line, and, after a few thousand miles---failure. There you have it...my theory.
Comments?
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How many miles were on the original belt? What did the belt look like after the failure? Were there cracks in the grooves? Was it glazed? Do you ever hear a squeel? or a squeeking from the belt? Does the automatic tensioner flex while running? Does your fan clutch release?
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Whoa.........don't panic everyone! I was just throwing a theory out there.
Go here, for some reading:
http://www.turbodieselregister.com/f...d.php?t=112695
To answer Hemi's questions, my truck had 5400 miles, belt shredded, dealer didn't know why. Same thing happened to some others (read link) and it was a slow day today, so I just put a theory out there.
Just interested to here my fellow members' comments.
Go here, for some reading:
http://www.turbodieselregister.com/f...d.php?t=112695
To answer Hemi's questions, my truck had 5400 miles, belt shredded, dealer didn't know why. Same thing happened to some others (read link) and it was a slow day today, so I just put a theory out there.
Just interested to here my fellow members' comments.
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I don't think a pebble would do it. My serpentine belt squee-geed a packrat on day two - say about 80 miles. and that is a 12" long rodent (not counting the tail).
Over 10k on it now, with no ill effects.
Over 10k on it now, with no ill effects.
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Here is a link to a previous thread.https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...threadid=54058
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