car ate another serpentine belt?

[ahoier]

lol.....yes it did...any idea why? What happened? Or suggestions to "check out" when I get back to the disabled vehicle? at the moment it's on the side of the road, it's been down pouring allllll day today! And actually, the moisture/rain is what I've been blaming it in.....I was driving down the street, and I was hearing the chirping belt, well, usually it goes away after the first block or two......well, all of a sudden I just hear a snap/bang/etc sound, not like crash bang boom, but more of a snap sound lol....anyways....knew the sound right away, because about 8 months ago, I had the similar situation, turning down my street, all of a sudden I hear the snap, and the lights start going dim, temp gauge starts increasing, etc.....and well yea, luckily THEN I was a block from my house

This time I was just about to merge onto I95......

So.....any ideas? I popped the hood, retrieved the mangled-to-[censored] belt (was a Gates if I recall.....Dayco's any better? I know they are a sponsor and all......) - and this time the belt was "more so" mangled than last time actually.....there was chunks of the belt all over under the hood....

So I grabbed the pulley I think it is? that is on the side of the alternator, and gave it a little shake, there seemed to be waaaaaay too much "give" there, i.e.: need to break out the sockets likely.....

So that's a check point there......while I'm under the hood, anything else I should check?

Just seems crazy to go through 2 belts in 8+ months......and the fact that it mostly only chirps/chatters early in the morning (think: wet, morning dew....), or during/after a nice rain storm....

And this is on the 88 Dodge Aries

BTW, this car, the water pump and alternator are on the same belt, hence the deal with the rising temp gauge, and dimming lights :<

 

[SS1970chrysler]

Pulley alignment is #1 suspect if no accessories are momentarily seizing up. I usually buy Goodyear Gatorback belts FWIW.

 

[zyxelenator]

Darn your car is hungry. Feed it with nice premium oil and gas, maybe it will calm down

Now seriously-- pulleys need to be checked, make sure new belt is right size,and tightened good.
+1 on Gatorbacks.

 

[JimPghPA]

If the bearings on everything are good, and each item turns freely, then the problem probably is the idler pulley. The tension spring, and the way the idler moves, along with the bearings, go bad with use. I always replace the idler pulley assembly every time I do a serpentine.

On a 88 vintage vehicle, I would also replace the bearings and brushes on the alternator; and even though it has nothing to do with the serpentine, put a new bendix and brushes on the starter, while I was at it. Be sure to clean and put a small amount of grease where the starter shaft rotates.,

 

[eljefino]

K cars with 2.2/2.5s are known for belt alignment/ bushing issues. Usually it's the bushing by the alternator (?) allpar.com knows.

I believe it's a ribbed belt but not necessarily a serpentine setup. I don't think it's automatically tensioned by a spring loaded pulley like most others.

 

[demarpaint]

Sometimes it is caused by improper installment of the belt. It could also be from bad pulley alignment, or a bearing in a pump or accessory might be going bad causing a wobble.

 

[Rick in PA]

My understanding is that it is often the tensioner that causes problems. This makes sense as the tensioner takes a beating in its operation. However, pulley alignment is also important. I seem to remember my brother mentioning using a laser pointer and "shooting" across the edges of the pulleys to check alignment. I recently had a problem with the serpentine belt riding off one pulley. It turned out the harmonic balancer on the crankshaft was failing and caused the problem.

 

[Texan4Life]

I would replace the tensioner if it is suspect/old. Also double check your spash shields. water will make a serp slip off even if everything is is perfect condition.

water+ weak tensioner = well i think u get the point.

edit: reread your post about chirpoing in the morning. this point even more heavily toward a tensioner IMO.

 

[artificialist]

Operate the engine with no belt for a while and look at the crank pulley/damper/balancer. Sometimes the rubber deteriorates, causing the part with belt gooves to separate from the center of the pulley, and the wobble will destroy a new belt quickly.

I'm not sure how common it is in your car. Usually I have to do this to a GM 2.8/3.1/3.4

 

[Thermo1223]

I came in hear thinking it was a Chrysler Minivan. My Dad's went through 3 belts in one year LOL

He never did get the updated kit though.

 

[ahoier]

Got it fixed up today with the help of a friend.....the alternator was suspect....I didn't go as far as laser/leveling but everything "appeared" to be level. On the road when I pulled over, I took a "tug" at the alternator, since my g/f's grandpa told me that may be suspect, sure enough, there was waaaaayyy too much "give" - the alternator was loose, so that got tightened. AFAIK, there is no "tensioner" or "bearings" in this set up? I referenced rock auto and it brought up some alternator bearings, etc....but that was it. Nothing related to the "belt" itself....also this particular belt set up has no "spring loaded" tensioner or anything, just the pulley from what I could see....

 

[ls1mike]

The altenator is the tensioner. You have to turne (F) the adjusting screw until the belt is tight enough. Once there were the adjust threads into at the bottom should be a bolt you can tighten so it dosent' back off.
IN 88 your belt will go under and around the warter pump pulley, this diagram is 1991 and up. The belt goes above the water pump pulley.

These cars only have a tensioner on the air conditioner belt and it is not a spring loaded one.

I have had seven 2.2/2.5 cars, all turbo. Never had any belt problems(they all use the same belt system). Just make sure you get the belt tight. About a 1/4 inch of deflection.

 

[eljefino]

There's a big rubber bushing at (D) and another one a few inches deeper. The forward one always gets shot first.

 

[buickman50401]

Pully misalignment would be my guess.

Dad had an E150 conversion van in the late 80s that ate at least one belt per year if not more. Known issue with that engine but Ford would only fix 89 to 91 when the TSB came out despite the '88s being affected.