serpentine belt eating monster

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12-10-2014, 09:01 PM

#16

seafish

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Connotaucarius

OK, I lost 2 ribs on a belt at 20K miles and now again at 84K miles. is the general consensus the idler pulley? do I need to change the entire idler pulley assembly or just the pulley and bearing?

Thank you in advance for your help

You definitely need to check EACH and EVERY pulley that the belt rides on.

First remove the serp belt and then spin and move EACH pulley to check for side play, end play, wobble AND tightness and roughness. Any one of these conditions in any one of the pulleys indicates a bad bearing and will not allow the belt to track right. Sometimes, more then one pulley will have a problem, which is why you need to check all of them. The ONLY pulley that might have end (in/out) play is the PS pump pulley. Some end play can be normal omn the PS pump and not cause a problem.

ALSO, as others have pointed out, the spring tensioner might be worn out and not keeping enough tension on the belt, allowing it to jump. Not sure if there is a way to check if the tensioner is in spec or not, but if you do not find any other bearing problems in any other pullies, then it is likely the problem.

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12-11-2014, 10:17 PM

#17

Hvytrkmech

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The idler tensioner is always fluctuating trying to keep dynamic torque on the belt. Thus it wears at the pivot point and generally goes unnoticed by the naked eye. You need to actually remove the belt and check for any horizontal movement. Be advised you will most likely need a prying device to see it it actually moves.
Gates makes a very robust tensioner assembly.

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12-12-2014, 08:33 PM

#18

Country23047

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Quote:

Originally Posted by d0d0

So I am working on a 2005 which is eating serpentine belts - 3 in two months. (not many miles in the three months either!) The first one went and it was very clear the idler pully bearing was hooped so I changed it. The second one went not long after and in the same fashion - stripping the outside (fan side) of the belt off a few ribs at a time. The third one was being ripped from both sides. It appears all pulleys are good - no wobbles or play. Doesanyone have a suggestion beyond a steel cable replacement? I am sort of stumped in terms of what to look for....

Last one I saw doing that needed a water pump.....

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12-13-2014, 01:43 PM

#19

Connotaucarius

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Since I'm the sort of person that doesn't "F" around with this sort of thing, I'm planning to replace the following and be done with it...

Gates K081264 HD Belt, OE improved
Gates 36315 Idler Pulley
Gates 38285 Tension Pulley, OE improved
???????????? Water pump
???????????? Anti-freeze

Does anybody have a recommendation for a good water pump?

PS: here's a good link for Gates products...

http://navigates.gates.com/Parts.asp...e=Light+Trucks