[SOLVED] fan belt Solved

Sod's Law says that, if you do now replace it, it will be a defective one and will fail after 1,000 miles.

" If it ain't broke......"

( I would change it, if it was me, though").

Jim GM4DHJ ... formulated on Tuesday :

If its a cam belt, change it to avoid the expensive noises.

Reminds me of one of my cars long ago. The handbook explained how to replace a fan belt, but if you looked for information on the steering pump belt, which trapped the fan belt, you were advised that this was a workshop task. :-(

Before a continental car trip many years ago, I made sure that my kit of bits included a spare fan belt. Some time later, back home, I decided that it was probably time to fit it, only to discover that I had been sold the wrong one. :-(

Chris

If this just a fan belt make sure you have plenty of old tights handy. If its more crucial, then don't take chances. Brian

Cars haven?t had fan belts for years. Fans are all electric these days.

Do you mean alternator/power steering pump belt or cam/water pump belt?

Tim

He doesn't wear them. Just his wife's panties.

In your rush to be a pedant did you miss were he called it "the serpentine belt" ?

A VW main dealer did once sell me the wrong part. I took the old belt with me to make sure that the next one would be the right size.

it powers the serpent.

I did that once, and got the wrong belt. The guy in the shop aid 'I tried to tell you, your old one has stretched 20%'

I used some rope one time, just tied it as tight as I could, there was no tensioner wheel. It slipped a lot but got me there. Nylons might perhaps have got the fan turning slowly, enough to make it overheat slower than no fan.

NT

Most sensible people would change the serpentine belt according to the maker's service schedule. But never mind - you can always just buy another car.

My old Rover is like that. In practice, the pump belt lasts for something like three or four fan belts. No idea why.

Bollocks.

AFAIK those aren't normally electric.

I had a fan belt snap late one night in London. RAC failed to turn up. By this time it was the wee small hours. So just drove home. Battery was up to it. and the fan turned the pump to give enough water circulation to prevent overheating. While moving above 15 mph or so. Wouldn't have got away with it in the rush hour, though.

There was a time when snapped V-belts were a common sight on the roadside, but now you never see them, and I never see the flat multi-grooved ones either (*). Instead I see many half-moon bits of broken coil springs on the side of the road.

(*) maybe they get trapped by the undertrays that a lot of manufacturers fit on modern cars.

If it's a VW they break too :-(

Latest Peugeot engine has a cambelt that runs in oil.

Seems to be a commonm practice now :-