Fanbelt failure
Discussion
It’s more accurately known as a drive belt.
As such it depends what it’s driving and whether those components themselves have a problem.
If we assume not and neither oil or coolant are getting on the belt it could last a good long while if it’s only slipping intermittently. If it’s contantly slipping it won’t last too long.
Chap with a truck that parked outside my office had a slipping belt for at least a year. Seemed to slip on full lock parking.
As such it depends what it’s driving and whether those components themselves have a problem.
If we assume not and neither oil or coolant are getting on the belt it could last a good long while if it’s only slipping intermittently. If it’s contantly slipping it won’t last too long.
Chap with a truck that parked outside my office had a slipping belt for at least a year. Seemed to slip on full lock parking.
Best thing would be to open the bonnet and take a look, is the belt just loose, or is it all frayed and ready to let go.
It's possible that it's just stretched a little and just needs tightening. I had a car once where if you went through a big puddle it would throw water onto the belt which would then squeak for a few minutes, This was cured by simply tightening up a bit.
Might also be when the aircon kicks in, that puts more strain on the belt, and if it's a little loose will cause it to squeal.
As mentioned at the beginning, someone needs to take a look.
Hope this helps.
It's possible that it's just stretched a little and just needs tightening. I had a car once where if you went through a big puddle it would throw water onto the belt which would then squeak for a few minutes, This was cured by simply tightening up a bit.
Might also be when the aircon kicks in, that puts more strain on the belt, and if it's a little loose will cause it to squeal.
As mentioned at the beginning, someone needs to take a look.
Hope this helps.
Spray it with water.
If it goes quiet for a few seconds, then the belt is either a bit loose (tensioner) or worn. If the water makes no difference, then something the belt is driving is knackered.
Aux belts do just wear out - they may not be frayed, but all the little grooves underneath will be worn away.
As above, do not oil it. That will fuX0r it up in short order.
If it goes quiet for a few seconds, then the belt is either a bit loose (tensioner) or worn. If the water makes no difference, then something the belt is driving is knackered.
Aux belts do just wear out - they may not be frayed, but all the little grooves underneath will be worn away.
As above, do not oil it. That will fuX0r it up in short order.
I will re-tell a tale of woe concerning a fan belt .
We had a customer with a xantia estate that we replaced a heater matrix on , a costly and involved process that produced a substantial bill .
We told the customer that his auxiliary belt was getting a bit frayed and should be replaced . He declined and a few days later departed for the South of France on a family holiday .
Of course the inevitable happened , it shredded ,wrapping itself around the other belts and pulleys and locking it all up . This broke the camshaft into 3 pieces , bent or broke 7 valves and wrecked the head . His misery didn't end there as he hadn't renewed his European breakdown cover so had to hire another vehicle for his holiday , pay for the recovery back to the UK and get his family back to the UK .
It cost him about £3k for the recovery,hire car and flights home + the £1100 he had paid for the previous repairs and he was left with a scrap car .
All for the sake of a £10 belt .
Get the thing sorted out .
We had a customer with a xantia estate that we replaced a heater matrix on , a costly and involved process that produced a substantial bill .
We told the customer that his auxiliary belt was getting a bit frayed and should be replaced . He declined and a few days later departed for the South of France on a family holiday .
Of course the inevitable happened , it shredded ,wrapping itself around the other belts and pulleys and locking it all up . This broke the camshaft into 3 pieces , bent or broke 7 valves and wrecked the head . His misery didn't end there as he hadn't renewed his European breakdown cover so had to hire another vehicle for his holiday , pay for the recovery back to the UK and get his family back to the UK .
It cost him about £3k for the recovery,hire car and flights home + the £1100 he had paid for the previous repairs and he was left with a scrap car .
All for the sake of a £10 belt .
Get the thing sorted out .
louiechevy said:
Ford fitted some of their engines with stretch belts, so it may not have a tensioner.
I've not heard of that. How do they avoid stretching under load? If they were dynamically stretching as the belt is loaded and unloaded I'd expect that to generate a lot of heat and wear.GreenV8S said:
louiechevy said:
Ford fitted some of their engines with stretch belts, so it may not have a tensioner.
I've not heard of that. How do they avoid stretching under load? If they were dynamically stretching as the belt is loaded and unloaded I'd expect that to generate a lot of heat and wear.GreenV8S said:
louiechevy said:
Ford fitted some of their engines with stretch belts, so it may not have a tensioner.
I've not heard of that. How do they avoid stretching under load? If they were dynamically stretching as the belt is loaded and unloaded I'd expect that to generate a lot of heat and wear.The have a very high initial installation load, that drops off to a normal load quickly. Very useful if you have difficulty packaging a tensioner. But, they are not great at transmitting power as a standard tensioned belt.
Megaflow said:
http://www.daycoproducts.com/dayco®-ela®...
The have a very high initial installation load, that drops off to a normal load quickly. Very useful if you have difficulty packaging a tensioner. But, they are not great at transmitting power as a standard tensioned belt.
Interesting. Still trying to get my head around how they avoid cyclic stretching and relaxing as the belt travels between the loaded and unloaded parts of its path. Or, if they don't avoid it, how they avoid losing a lot of energy as a result.The have a very high initial installation load, that drops off to a normal load quickly. Very useful if you have difficulty packaging a tensioner. But, they are not great at transmitting power as a standard tensioned belt.
GreenV8S said:
Interesting. Still trying to get my head around how they avoid cyclic stretching and relaxing as the belt travels between the loaded and unloaded parts of its path. Or, if they don't avoid it, how they avoid losing a lot of energy as a result.
I think you are imagining something like a weak rubber band, they aren't stretchy in the same way. If you've ever changed the drive belt in a tape or record deck you'd understand the difference; the belts are quite stiff and accurately sized to required a well defined and quite small amount of stretch to be fitted.Some elasticity in the drive is also a good thing to dampen shock loads etc.
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