What happens if drive belt is loose?

What happens if drive belt is loose?

If there is not enough tension, a belt can slip, squeal or run hot. Quick fact: If your serpentine belt is loose, you may have other mechanical problems like under-performing water pump, which can cause the engine to overheat. Avoid performance loss. Bring your ride in as soon as possible.

What problems can a loose belt cause?

If your serpentine belt is failing, you may notice performance issues with your vehicle. The vehicle may frequently overheat. Your air conditioning or power steering may fail to work or not work properly. You may notice your vehicle battery failing to recharge if the alternator is affected by a bad serpentine belt.

What does a loose or worn belt look like?

The symptoms of a loose serpentine belt include a loud squealing noise when the engine is started or when the steering is turned all the way to one side. A serpentine belt that keeps slipping off the pulley is another symptom of a bad tensioner. The solution is to replace a serpentine belt and a belt tensioner.

What if my belt is too long?

If you have a belt that’s too long, the traditional fix is to punch an extra hole in it. But this lengthens the hanging tail of the belt, and that can end up looking ridiculous (as illustrated above ? ). A better fix is to shorten the belt from the buckle end. Rip out the stitches holding the buckle and belt loop.

How can you tell if a car belt is a chirp or a squeal?

One method to determine if the noise is a chirp or squeal is to use a water squirt bottle and spray the rib side of the belt while the vehicle is running. If the noise gets louder, it’s a squeal. If the noise goes away, it’s a chirp.

What causes belt noise and what causes misalignment?

One of the biggest burdens today for professional technicians and do-it-yourselfers is belt noise, and the No. 1 cause of belt noise is misalignment. There are two distinctively different types of belt noise, “Chirp” and “Squeal”. Each has its own unique characteristics, causes and solutions.

How do you know if your Polaris belt is worn out?

If you haven’t torn a cord out then I doubt that you wore your belt out in 350 miles. These belts do glaze up and stretch a bit causing them to be loose, seems to happen in the first 100 miles or so. Large tolerances on clutch clearances can cause this. Check how much actual adjustment you have with a new Polaris belt.

When to replace a belt due to misalignment?

Inspect and replace all accessories / pulleys that are difficult to rotate (i.e. rough/seized bearings), or show excessive wobble / free rock Warning: Any existing misalignment condition probably caused pre-mature wear of the belt ribs on the old belt. A new belt is recommended once the accessory drive has been realigned.