Save Yourself a Breakdown: Check Those Belts
By Teresa Ambord
It’s not uncommon for drivers to wait till their car makes odd noises or squeals before they take it to a repair shop. But if you want to avoid roadside breakdowns, you should have a trusted professional look at your belts and hoses as part of a maintenance routine.
Drive Belts
Drive belts run various components of the car, like the water pump, alternator (or generator) power steering pump, emission device, and the air conditioning compressor. If the belts become worn, cracked, lose, or caked with grease or oil, they can cause mechanical breakdown, overheating, or failure of the charging system.
Late model vehicles often have serpentine belts that are wide and thin. In some cars, one serpentine belt drives all or most of the accessories.
V-belts start narrow and grow thicker. Vehicles with V-belts may have several different belts.
What to Look For:
Check belts with the engine off and cool. Also, before you start feeling around, if the car has an electric fan, beware. It can start at any time, even if the engine is off. If you can, unplug the fan. Then you can inspect the belts visually and with touch.
- Glazing- If the contact side of the belt is slick or shiny it probably can no longer grip like it should. If grease or oil has gotten on the belt that could have the same affect. Those contaminants can cause the belt to deteriorate faster.
- Pilling- If the rubber compound of the belt is coming off and sticking to the drive pulley it could be because the belt is too lose, misaligned, or a sign that the pulleys are worn.
- Cracking- Heat and stress may cause the belts to crack.
- Chunking- If the belts are cracked, chunks may begin to break loose.
What to Listen For:
- Chirping- If, when you rev the engine it sounds like a bird, it may mean you have a worn belt.
- Slapping- If it sounds like the belt is slapping, it might be loose or misaligned.
- Squealing-This may mean a worn belt, or, if for some reason the belt has gotten very wet it may cause squealing and slipping. The squeal sound can usually be heard when pulling away from a curb, or when first starting the car after it has sat for a while. It could also happen when you stress the engine a little, like by turning on the air conditioner.
Check the Tension
- If you have a serpentine belt, the tension should adjust automatically.
- If you have V-belts, they can stretch and need to be adjusted now and then. Check the tension by pushing on the longest section with your thumb. The belt should move about 3/8 to 1/2 inch. If it deflects more or less, a professional should readjust it.
The Timing Belt
You can't see the timing belt, since it is encased behind the front engine cover. But if it breaks, depending on the kind of engine you have, the damage can be costly. To prevent this from happening, refer to your owner's manual for recommended timing belt care and replacement intervals.
