Lost belt

jpaner

New member
My engine tossed the belt for the second time in a few days. (Only used once). This time the belt was lost. All the pulleys seem to be spinning fine and the belt looked ok. Any ideas on what could the the cause or what to look for ?


John
 

surlyoldbill

Well-known member
People relate a bad alternator clutch pulley or a bad tensioner pulley to be the source of most jumping belts. Use the SEARCH feature.

I replaced my alternator ($180 200 amp Bosch OEM) after hearing a "chirp" when shutting down the engine. Belt was jumpy, less jumpy after replacement. I decided that a new alternator with the clutch installed was a better solution than saving $75 and putting a new clutch on the 8 year old alternator; and I didn't have to buy the special tool to remove the pulley.

The belt was still a little jumpy, so I checked the tensioner and found it to be lacking. Replaced it and the belt is now super smooth. The tension on the new one vs the old one was significant. I think your tensioner may be to blame, or both working together to throw the belt.
 

mendonsy

Member
In addition to the alternator and tensioner you should check the other pulleys too.
We had an idler pulley fail and destroy a belt two years ago.
 

jmoller99

Own a DAD ODB2 Unit.
I agree. When I replaced my water pump, all of my pulleys were making slight noises (like the bearing was dry) when I spun them by hand - I changed them all (including the tensioner) at the same time (I had the radiator propped open at the time - they were easy to get to). This was changed at around 185,000 miles.
 

Top Bottom