Serpentine belt working its way off

joshuachrist · #1 01-03-2011, 12:25 PM

Hello once again. I was left half stranded the other day when i discovered that my serpentine belt had split in half. At the time i didnt think much of it, had a friend take me to a NAPA store and i replaced the belt in the parking lot. I drove it home and all seemed well. Today i go out and im checking to make sure everything is still in order when i see that its already working itself off the crank pulley. I'm now under the impression that this is what caused the failure of the first belt. I tightened the belt pretty well when i put it on. Is this a sign of it not being tight enough? Is it a sign of the tensioner not being completely straight? Or is it a sign of the crank pulley being junk?

Thanks again as always

Crazy_pilot · #2 01-03-2011, 12:54 PM

Re-seat the belt and watch how the crank pulley spins with the engine running. The 2-piece dampened pullies have been known to separate along the rubber seam. You can also make a chalk/whiteout line across the rubber part to see if the inner and outer parts are staying together.

joshuachrist · #3 01-03-2011, 02:04 PM

there is rubber showing along the front side of the pulley...this is not good?

Crazy_pilot · #4 01-03-2011, 02:53 PM

No, it's normal to see the rubber joining layer, but the two metal parts should rotate as a unit with no wobble.

HMacmillian · #5 01-03-2011, 05:11 PM

I just had a problem with the main pulley on my crank coming loose. It caused a wobble that tore up a set of belts and caused another to keep falling off before I had it fixed. The fix is only temporary as the threads were beginning to strip so soon I will need to replace the crank and while I am at it have the engine rebuilt. Check to make sure its not that, as letting it go will cause some damage.