Walked out of the station this morning and started my truck. Went back in for about 5 minutes (temp was 19 degrees). When I came back out the belt on my truck was squealing. Not terribly but it was making a noise. I drove home and when I pulled in my driveway it was squealing louder. Opened the hood and this is what I found.







I haven’t noticed the belt with the frayed edge on it before but to be honest I haven’t looked for it either (wouldn’t have this time if it wasn’t making noise).

1st question: is the belt going bad? And if it is about how long before it goes by looking at the picture? I haven't found any part of the belt or where it looks like it came off.

2nd question: would you change the belt yourself or let the dealership do it? I’m pretty picky about my truck and hate for them to touch it if at all possible. It is under warranty though. Have any of you priced the belt?

Thanks in advance!

Britt

 

Britt, there have been several cases like this on '04's. Run a search in the third gen forum for "belt" with "wexman" as the user name and you should get some good info.

 

thanks for the reply wannadiesel.

i did that search before i posted. didn't really get the info i needed. read that thread and the others linked to it.
am i having the same problems as others with the two pictures that i posted? what would be your recommendations?

britt

 

It seems like a replacement belt has cured everyone's problem. I think the most likely cause is the belt was put on one rib off on the crank pulley. Since it's an '05, I say let the dealer take care of it - that's what the warranty is for. Make them check the tensioner, too, that's what causes this sort of thing on the older trucks, but the belt routing is much different.

 

Let the daeler fix it... it's their problem, not yours. Just make sure you get an appointment where you can stand over them and watch their every move so they don't screw up. What is there to screw up on this job? Who knows, but I'm sure they'll figure out something. They ARE, after all, a dealer.

 

You too? How amny miles on your truck? At least you got a warning (squealing). I got none. Started my truck one morning, with 5400 miles on the clock, and I heard a terrible noise underhood, and it was shredded and wrapped around the fan spindle. If you read my thread (or it's duplicate over on TDR) there have been at least 8 of us now who have had this problem. My dealer replaced the belt (the new one doesn't chirp, by the way), and now with about 4000 miles on this one, it is (so far, knock wood) OK. I check it once a week however.

If you look at the pulley at the bottom of the engine on the passenger side, it is my opinion that this is where the probems could be. There is NO room for error for tracking on that pulley, and if it was installed even *slightly* misaligned, it's only a matter of time. Looking at your pictures, the edge that is shredded IS the edge where there is "no error room" on that bottom pulley.

I had to have my truck flatbeded to the dealer, and they replaced under warranty, PLUS I wanted it has part of my service record in case the problem recurred. Your's is at least drivable (mine wasn't); I would drive straight to the dealer. My dealer said he checked the tensioner, alignment, et cetera, and drove it, and even let it idle a while. They just put "defective belt" on the invoice. Hopefully, that's all it was, and/or it was installed wrong at the factory.

I ordered a spare from NAPA, and now keep it in my truck. Please keep us posted.

Scott

 

My neighbors 05 did that last week with a little over 8k on it.They replaced belt and tensioner.Had to pull them off another truck.None in stock,none in Atlanta depot.They pulled them off a 05 2500 and ordered parts.

 

Which brings me back to my original question that I posted months ago:

Why are these 04s and now, 05s, doing this? TOOOOO much of a coincidence. What is different about the design of these pullies, belts, tensioners, etc? I've driven many different cars and trucks over the years, and read tons of vehicle forums for the last several years, and this seems (except for very old vehicles) to be an issue with our Rams.

 

I thought I was going to open this thread up and find a picture f what's left of a cat or something. Let the dealer fix it and if it really wories you carry a spare.

 

Thanks guys for the replies.

I can’t remember if the belt on my 03 looked like this or not. I’m almost positive it did but I’m not sure. It never did squeal or chirp (although it was a 6 spd) like this one is doing.
I hate going back to the dealer for this but I will. I know it is just a small job but I just don’t trust them. The majority of the times I have taken my vehicles back to get work done they mess up something else. I worked as a service advisor at a Saturn dealership and I have an idea about what goes on in the shop. Not all are bad of course, but I just wish I knew I could get the guy who cares about his job and the customer.

I think the main problem is me. I’m just too ****.

I can’t make it until Tuesday because I’m on duty tomorrow. I will let everyone know what the outcome is.

Thanks once again!

Britt

 

i would like to know that myself. i read your other posts and i feel the same way you do. mine hasn't come apart yet but i certainly don't trust it. if it happened once what's to keep it from happening again?

britt

 

Im with ya on this i wont even let them change my oil.

 

I would recommend having your dealer do it.

1. It's under warranty, won't cost you a penny.

2. It will be entered into your service record, in case it happens again.

Whatever you do, don't drive around with that belt like that - it will fail at any time, andyouwill be stranded.

 

T-7, any updates for us?

 

They seriously cover a serpentine belt under warranty???

I thought that would be a "wear item"

I'd get a spare if I were you.


On my old Ford, the serpentine had many many miles on it when it started disentegrating. I bought a replacement but was really busy with planting or harvest or something so i didn't get around to changing it for quite a while.
When I fianally did there couldn't have been more than a half an inch of belt left on the pully.