Car shreading serpentine belts?

[BennyM]

So a few months ago, my serpentine belt snapped as I was pulling away from my house. Circumstances dictated at that moment that I had to ask the x-girlfriend for a ride to autozone (no fun). I promptly replaced the belt and carried on with my marry life.

Today, a couple months later, I open the hood to check the oil and notice that half of the main belt has shredded away and wrapped itself around the fan clutch. no apparent harm done. Didn't have any issues or odd noises the night before, but I freaked and got a ride back to autozone. Later that night, I'm driving home from my folks house and snap, dash lights, Coolent temp warning, car begins to overheat, aahhhhhhh! I pull off the freeway and into the first place I can safely park. The brand new belt has shredded in several places, causing the AC belt to break clean. Both belts of course wrapped around the fan clutch as they did a few months ago.

Now, I admit I let the first set of belts go too long without replacing them, but is it really possible that these autozone belts are really that crappy? since that's probably not the case, what could possibly be eating these belts? None of the pulleys or tensioners looked or felt like they were malfunctioning. Has anyone else experienced this?

I really need to fix this by the end of the day, so if anyone can point me toward a likely part failure, I'm all ears. I'm desperate enough to buy my parts at the dealer for parts.....not quite desperate enough to have them repair it though. Thanks guys.

BennyM

[632 Regal]

I would try another brand of belt especially if everything seems good. What about the tensioner? too tight/loose?

[Jon K]

I would try another brand of belt especially if everything seems good. What about the tensioner? too tight/loose?

One good way to see if the tensioner is failed is to go into diagnostic mode on your OBC and do TEST 9 and watch your voltage. Put the car in On II mode and the voltage shoulve be 11 - 12.2v or so. Start the car, it should go up to 13.5 - 14.0 (assuming good alternator). If it's not, and it's hanging around 12 - 13.0, then your belt may be slipping. Just a thought. Oh, and belts do slip when overly tight.

[zygoteer]

....... Put the car in On II mode .........

Maybe its the translation, but does that mean ignition switch position II ?

[Bill R.]

water pump by hand,see if its tight or spins smoothly, can you wiggle the shaft up and down, spin the alternator, same thing wiggle up and down. Check the tensioner pulleys for loose wobbly bearings, check all pulleys for wobbble or play.. Autozone has 2 varieties of belts, one is the cheapo valucraft autozone home brand which is pretty bad and the other is the goodyear belts which seem to be better quality. After you put the new belt on if you haven't found anything else, sight down the belt after its installed and look to see if you see any pulleys that are misaligned so that the belt is pulled off in a different direction... If so thats where to look for your problem.

So a few months ago, my serpentine belt snapped as I was pulling away from my house. Circumstances dictated at that moment that I had to ask the x-girlfriend for a ride to autozone (no fun). I promptly replaced the belt and carried on with my marry life.

Today, a couple months later, I open the hood to check the oil and notice that half of the main belt has shredded away and wrapped itself around the fan clutch. no apparent harm done. Didn't have any issues or odd noises the night before, but I freaked and got a ride back to autozone. Later that night, I'm driving home from my folks house and snap, dash lights, Coolent temp warning, car begins to overheat, aahhhhhhh! I pull off the freeway and into the first place I can safely park. The brand new belt has shredded in several places, causing the AC belt to break clean. Both belts of course wrapped around the fan clutch as they did a few months ago.

Now, I admit I let the first set of belts go too long without replacing them, but is it really possible that these autozone belts are really that crappy? since that's probably not the case, what could possibly be eating these belts? None of the pulleys or tensioners looked or felt like they were malfunctioning. Has anyone else experienced this?

I really need to fix this by the end of the day, so if anyone can point me toward a likely part failure, I'm all ears. I'm desperate enough to buy my parts at the dealer for parts.....not quite desperate enough to have them repair it though. Thanks guys.

BennyM

[uscharalph]

"Autozone has 2 varieties of belts, one is the cheapo valucraft autozone home brand which is pretty bad and the other is the goodyear belts which seem to be better quality."

How are the Continental Belts in comparison to the goodyear belts?

[632 Regal]

I think the continentals are better.

[Jay 535i]

Here's a longshot from someone who doesn't really know all that much:

Could it be that the belts you're using aren't the right size? Like, maybe they're very close to correct, but the extra width or inadequate length leads to excess wear?

[Jon K]

Continentals are up there on one of the best belt manufacturers list... same with Gates belts.

[BennyM]

I checked the pulleys and tensioners again. Nothing had any wobble. i did however notice that the alternator spun more freely than the water pump (by that I mean, the alternator continued to spin for a while after i applied the thrust, but the water pump spun only for a half second after) Is that the culprit then or does it typically have a bit more resistance? I'm afraid to put on the BMW OEM belts i just got from the stealer because i'd rather not throw away $70 for a test. Thanks for the input.

BennyM

water pump by hand,see if its tight or spins smoothly, can you wiggle the shaft up and down, spin the alternator, same thing wiggle up and down. Check the tensioner pulleys for loose wobbly bearings, check all pulleys for wobbble or play.. Autozone has 2 varieties of belts, one is the cheapo valucraft autozone home brand which is pretty bad and the other is the goodyear belts which seem to be better quality. After you put the new belt on if you haven't found anything else, sight down the belt after its installed and look to see if you see any pulleys that are misaligned so that the belt is pulled off in a different direction... If so thats where to look for your problem.