Your battery light will also illuminate, as your alternator has stopped working. Usually the first one you feel is a lack of power steering. In most cases, this is the alternator, water pump, and power steering pump. When your belt fails, everything that it is driving stops functioning. However, if your serpentine belt breaks completely or falls off, you won’t have any option but to replace it. With some components, you can get away with keeping your car on the road for a little while. If you’re like many other drivers, you’ve probably driven farther than you should when parts or systems are going out. If you have a recurring issue where your belt frequently breaks, or it breaks long before it should have, it is possible that an issue like pulley drag, obstruction or debris in the engine bay, or contamination of the belt and pulley from leaking oil or coolant. If you notice the ribs cracking, the ribs are worn away, or you notice any other substantial belt wear, it’s time to change the belt. Look on the inside of the belt (the ribbed side that touches the pulleys on the alternator, water pumps, and other engine accessories). Your mechanic can let you know when to replace the serpentine belt or how many miles it has left. Other signs of problems are damaged ribs or rib separation. Newer belts wear more like tires, so you’ll need to look for rib material deterioration. Keep in mind that serpentine belts don’t show cracks like their predecessors. It’s a good idea to periodically check the belt or have a mechanic inspect it for you during routine car maintenance. Years of use could cause the belt to crack or wear unevenly. Wear and tear, as well as extreme temperatures, will take a toll on the serpentine belt at some point. Check these bearings when performing a belt change. At times, the bearings in the tensioner pulley become worn. The tensioner is a self-adjusting pulley that maintains pressure on the belt to reduce slipping. The belt is kept tight through the belt tensioner. Squealing noise under the hood: This may signal that the belt is slipping.Wear and tear: If a visual inspection of the serpentine belt reveals significant wear and tear, including cracks, separation, or damage, it’s time for a new belt.Squealing from power steering or air conditioning: The serpentine belt controls peripherals such as power steering and air conditioning, and these devices take a lot of torque from the belt to turn, so if you turn the wheel, or turn on the AC and hear squealing, the chances are, your belt has worn.The vehicle can continue driving until it reaches a safe place to stop. Some vehicles have a dedicated belt for the alternator just in case the serpentine belt should break. This one belt provides power to all the vehicles components. When you notice one of these four signs, it’s time for a new serpentine belt: Serpentine belt transfer power from the engine’s crank shaft to the engines alternator, power steering pump, smog pump*, and air conditioner compressor. Consult your owner’s manual maintenance section for replacement intervals. Most last for around 50,000 to 100,000 miles. Serpentine belts don’t need to be replaced particularly often. If these pulleys fail while on the vehicle, your belt will fall off, and you will be running without a water pump (in most cases), power steering, and an alternator, so check them carefully! Any excessive movement of any of these pulleys, or noise, and they should be replaced. Grab each pulley and check for any side to side, or in and out movement. They should spin freely and make no noise. Most importantly, take the tensioner pulley and any idler pulleys (these are pulleys that do not drive anything, like Power Steering) and give them a spin. Oil can increase wear on serpentine belts. This is a good time to look for oil leaks, too. Use a straightedge to make sure the pulleys are aligned correctly, and then remove any old dirt and grime from the pulleys. Look for disintegration along the edges and separated ribs, both of which are signs that you have misalignment on your hands. Misalignment won’t resolve itself when you replace the belt, so determine whether this is a problem. Many belts wear out over time, but some wear down due to misalignment or other issues. After removing the belt, inspect it for signs of damage.
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