My original serpentine belt has been slowly spitting off little tiny "melted" rubber pieces for the past 15 months or more. The belt itself is not cracked or missing any V's. There's a tiny oil leak either from the inner, lowest part of the front valve cover gasket or the power steering system that drips on to the belt and the very forward end of the belt system. It's such a slow leak that you just can't see anything dripping. My mechanic said it's causing the belt to slowly disintegrate, hence the rubber pieces. He didn't think it looked that bad at 72K miles compared to others he'd seen. It's no worse looking today than last year...no squeals or signs of belt flopping.
I'd like to put it to bed. At the same time why not change out the 16 year old tensioner and idler pulley and go in there only once? If there is a valve cover leak, I have to do the front VC gasket & front plugs/coils. Probably not a bad time to do the upper radiator hose and/or thermostat while that hose is emptied. So for one oil drip that doesn't even make it to the ground, and doesn't show up in the reservoir/oil pan usage, I have to consider doing half a dozen things. Sheesh. If my mechanic does all this, it would probably run me $1,000 parts and labor, especially if they put someone on the job who has never done a transverse engine shoe-horned in like this one.
I'd sort of like to tackle it myself but have a feeling I'd get caught on something (stripping out the #40 Torx bolt for the tensioner, breaking something on the engine when jacking it up 1.5", etc.). I've spent several hours on line seeing who has done it and how.... half a dozen different versions of how this procedure can be done. You would think there was one "best" way? The Ford procedure has you installing a special 3 pt sling on the upper engine and cranking/screwing it up with passenger side motor mount nuts removed. Most everyone else mentions jacking up under the oil pan with a wood block. Ford also has you drain coolant, remove a coolant hose, get both PS reservoir and Degas bottle out of the way, and remove inner wheel well shroud. Trying to slip the new belt into a sliver of a space sounds like fun too. Some of the accounts I've read were from people who just got stuck on their own and had to have the car towed to their mechanic.
Any advice from those who have done it would be appreciated. 2002 Lincoln Continental 78K miles. Ordered a Motorcraft replacement belt to ensure it does fit properly. Also ordered lower radiator air deflector as mine is missing 2 of the 5 mounting tabs, and the actual vertical dam section is long gone to some parking lot curb. I don't ever recall if that was even on the car when I first got it.
I'd like to put it to bed. At the same time why not change out the 16 year old tensioner and idler pulley and go in there only once? If there is a valve cover leak, I have to do the front VC gasket & front plugs/coils. Probably not a bad time to do the upper radiator hose and/or thermostat while that hose is emptied. So for one oil drip that doesn't even make it to the ground, and doesn't show up in the reservoir/oil pan usage, I have to consider doing half a dozen things. Sheesh. If my mechanic does all this, it would probably run me $1,000 parts and labor, especially if they put someone on the job who has never done a transverse engine shoe-horned in like this one.
I'd sort of like to tackle it myself but have a feeling I'd get caught on something (stripping out the #40 Torx bolt for the tensioner, breaking something on the engine when jacking it up 1.5", etc.). I've spent several hours on line seeing who has done it and how.... half a dozen different versions of how this procedure can be done. You would think there was one "best" way? The Ford procedure has you installing a special 3 pt sling on the upper engine and cranking/screwing it up with passenger side motor mount nuts removed. Most everyone else mentions jacking up under the oil pan with a wood block. Ford also has you drain coolant, remove a coolant hose, get both PS reservoir and Degas bottle out of the way, and remove inner wheel well shroud. Trying to slip the new belt into a sliver of a space sounds like fun too. Some of the accounts I've read were from people who just got stuck on their own and had to have the car towed to their mechanic.
Any advice from those who have done it would be appreciated. 2002 Lincoln Continental 78K miles. Ordered a Motorcraft replacement belt to ensure it does fit properly. Also ordered lower radiator air deflector as mine is missing 2 of the 5 mounting tabs, and the actual vertical dam section is long gone to some parking lot curb. I don't ever recall if that was even on the car when I first got it.