The most obvious sign of a loose drive belt, though, is in its appearance and tension. A loose belt, simply stated, looks and feels loose.
There are two types of drive belts used in automotive vehicles. They are the v-belt and serpentine belt. Belts are used to rotate components on the engine assembly, such as a coolant pump water pump. This pump flows coolant through the engine to remove heat. An alternator produces electricity to maintain a balance on the electrical system and keep the battery charged. If equipped with a power steering pump, it provides assistance in steering the vehicle. A cooling fan can also be belt driven; this moves air across a radiator to cool the engine coolant to prevent overheating of the engine at slow road speeds or idle.
These belt driven components can affect the tension of a belt. The v-belt type has a narrow taper to a V shape that goes around a pulley. It will have a manual adjustment for the proper belt tension and proper tension will increase its belt life. If the tension is loose, the belt will make a high pitch noise.
If you visually look at the belt as the engine is running, there will be a lot of movement with the belt. Depending on the component the belt is rotating, it will have a low output effect. It will create higher steering effort in the power steering because the power steering pump pulley will have a slipping condition. You will lose frictional contact between pulley and belt, and the pump cannot produce enough pressure.
The coolant pump could cause an engine overheating condition. The alternator would cause a low-voltage battery issue, no crank condition, or low system operating voltage.
You will notice it because the steering becomes really heavy if it is not working, so heavy that it may actually be dangerous. Most newer cars do have an electric power steering pump , though, and in this case, you will not notice heavy steering from a snapped serpentine belt. The most noticeable symptom of a bad serpentine belt is that cracks start to occur on the belt.
You can often see this directly by inspecting the belt. Some cracks might happen pretty fast even if the belt is not completely worn out, but it is definitely time to replace it if it is full of cracks. If your serpentine belt is not snapped off yet, but starting to go bad, you might hear squealing noises from the belt. This does especially occur when you are putting a load on the belt, for example, when you steer, so the power steering pump has to work.
You can try this by starting many electronic consumers like headlights, radio, heaters, etc. By doing so, you will make the alternator work harder, and if you hear even higher squealing, there might be something wrong with your belt. Most newer car models have an automatic tensioner for the serpentine belt, but some older ones have a manual tensioner, which you might have to tension the belt to get it right and stop squealing.
The AC pump often has its own smaller serpentine belt for just the AC pump in many car models, not in all of them, though. If you have a separate belt for the AC pump and it fails, everything else might work except the air condition. A lot of car models have the water pump powered by the serpentine belt. However, if the serpentine belt drives your water pump and it snaps off, the coolant in your car will stop flowing, and your car engine will overheat very fast. When an alternator is actively charging the battery, it is actually spinning inside the vehicle.
There is something called an alternator belt also called a serpentine belt which wraps around a pulley or multiple pullies that is connected to the alternator.
The other end of the pulley wraps around the crankshaft. Therefore, the crankshaft and alternator are able to rotate together by the alternator pulley. Related: Symptoms of a Broken Alternator Belt. As you continue to drive your vehicle, the alternator belt gets a little bit more worn each day.
It could be susceptible to wear and tear damage or it may even come loose from the pulley. Once that happens, you can expect all kinds of symptoms to arise. If you notice any of these symptoms, the best thing to do is have your alternator belt replaced immediately. If you are driving your vehicle and suddenly notice the headlights flickering or dimming or cabin lights inside the vehicle dimming, this could mean you either have a battery or alternator issue.
Depending on how old the alternator is , it can also be a sign the alternator itself is on its way out. If this symptom is consistent with the flickering lights issue, then a loose alternator belt is more likely the cause. One of the first symptoms that you should notice is the battery warning light coming on. This warning light does not always mean there is a problem with the battery itself.
It could just mean there is an electrical problem in the vehicle which is impacting the battery. A loose alternator belt may be the culprit. Related: Causes of an Alternator Going Bad.
If the serpentine belt is loose, it often results in various noises coming from your engine. When the alternator can no longer fully charge the battery because of a loose alternator belt, the battery will then try to provide all the power to the vehicle on its own.
The true replacement cost will depend on how long it takes the mechanic to access your alternator belt. Related: Average Alternator Replacement Cost. Sometimes it is easy to access, so the labor will only take one hour or so.
But if the belt is difficult to access, you could be looking at multiple hours of labor charges. Even though you could technically drive for a bit with the power stored in the battery, your biggest concern would be overheating the engine which would cause catastrophic damage very quickly without a water pump. If your car has a separate belt just for the alternator, you could drive for as long as the power stored in your battery lasts maybe min.
Depending on what part broke, it may sound like nothing. A loose drive belt will often be noisy, squeaking a bit, or emitting a high-pitched squeal.
The most obvious sign of a loose drive belt, though, is in its appearance and tension. A loose belt, simply stated, looks and feels loose. It provides power for the air conditioning, alternator, power steering, and sometimes the cooling system water pump.
0コメント