Three days ago the serpentine belt went on my F250 6.4L.
It started with squeeling so I used some belt dressing (didn't realize you aren't supposed to for serpentine belts).
About a day or two after applying the belt dressing it went (not sure if it was in bad shape or if the belt dressing did it). I was far from home and lucky enough that it went at a campground where I could repair it with a NAPA belt. The fix got me home (500 km towing a travel trailer) but I did notice some minor wear on the edge and backside (smooth side) of the belt. I've heard this is not good, but common for aftermarket belts. I used the truck around town yesterday with no problems. Today I went to use it and I didn't get down the street when the belt went again. It is split on the side opposite to the engine and lost 3-4 bands. The half the remaining belt stayed on.
There is no burning smell or glazing of the belt and all the pulley's seemed to spin fine when we replaced it the first time. Is there residual from the belt dressing that could be doing this?
I noticed that the idler wheel on the tensioner is not in the same alignment as the other wheels. The offset is about 10-15mm towards the engine (sorry, not a good angle for a photo) and it appears to be in the arm rather than the bearings. When I replaced the belt it had some good tension but I suspect it might be broken in the spring mechanism and this is causing the arm to be misaligned. Does anyone know if this tensioner idler wheel is supposed to be on this slight angle? Is it adjustable?
Since I've had the truck (1.5 years) there was a small rattle from the serpentine belt area as startup that seems to go away when the truck is warmed up. I suspect it might be a bearing but I would think a bearing seizure would have glazed the belt. Also from what we could tell, the wheels didn't wiggle when putting on the new belt. The only thing that didn't seem right was the alignment of the tensioner wheel. The rattle probably isn't good but might be from something else.
Also I noticed this NAPA belt that just went didn't have a steel wire core like the first one. I am going to get ford parts on this next repair because I am back in town but is it possible that this replacement belt just went because it is junk?
Replacing that belt is super annoying. I don't want to just throw another one in there and cross my fingers. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks
It started with squeeling so I used some belt dressing (didn't realize you aren't supposed to for serpentine belts).
About a day or two after applying the belt dressing it went (not sure if it was in bad shape or if the belt dressing did it). I was far from home and lucky enough that it went at a campground where I could repair it with a NAPA belt. The fix got me home (500 km towing a travel trailer) but I did notice some minor wear on the edge and backside (smooth side) of the belt. I've heard this is not good, but common for aftermarket belts. I used the truck around town yesterday with no problems. Today I went to use it and I didn't get down the street when the belt went again. It is split on the side opposite to the engine and lost 3-4 bands. The half the remaining belt stayed on.
There is no burning smell or glazing of the belt and all the pulley's seemed to spin fine when we replaced it the first time. Is there residual from the belt dressing that could be doing this?
I noticed that the idler wheel on the tensioner is not in the same alignment as the other wheels. The offset is about 10-15mm towards the engine (sorry, not a good angle for a photo) and it appears to be in the arm rather than the bearings. When I replaced the belt it had some good tension but I suspect it might be broken in the spring mechanism and this is causing the arm to be misaligned. Does anyone know if this tensioner idler wheel is supposed to be on this slight angle? Is it adjustable?
Since I've had the truck (1.5 years) there was a small rattle from the serpentine belt area as startup that seems to go away when the truck is warmed up. I suspect it might be a bearing but I would think a bearing seizure would have glazed the belt. Also from what we could tell, the wheels didn't wiggle when putting on the new belt. The only thing that didn't seem right was the alignment of the tensioner wheel. The rattle probably isn't good but might be from something else.
Also I noticed this NAPA belt that just went didn't have a steel wire core like the first one. I am going to get ford parts on this next repair because I am back in town but is it possible that this replacement belt just went because it is junk?
Replacing that belt is super annoying. I don't want to just throw another one in there and cross my fingers. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks
