Your serpentine belt is powered by the engine as it turns.  Your alternator, air conditioning compressor and power steering pump depend on your serpentine belt in order to run.  On some vehicles it also runs the water pump, radiator fan and power brakes.

If your serpentine belt breaks, your battery won’t last long.  If it runs your fan or water pump, your engine could overheat before your battery dies.  Steering and braking would also be affected.  To put it mildly, you could be up a creek without a paddle if your serpentine belt breaks.  Hopefully, we’ve made an impression about how important it is to replace your serpentine belt before it’s worn out.

Your owner’s manual will advise you when they recommend it’s best to replace your serpentine belt.  Your friendly and knowledgeable service adviser at Express Car Care can inspect the belt as well to determine if it’s close to failure.

You may have heard that it’s a good idea to check for cracks in your belt to see if it’s time for a new one.  However, with the newer belts, belt thickness is a more reliable indicator of the status.  At Express Car Care, we use a special tool to measure the depth of the grooves to see if a replacement is in order.

A worn belt can also cause problems even before it breaks.  It can slip out of place and put undue stress on the accessories it runs.

There’s a tensioner pulley on your engine that puts pressure on the belt to keep it at the right tension.  Since the spring on the tensioner wears out like any other part, we recommend replacing the tensioner pulley at the same time you switch out the serpentine belt.

Replacing your serpentine belt on schedule will save you from a dangerous breakdown.

Come in and let us help you keep your vehicle on the road.

Question:  My car repair shop said I need a new serpentine belt, but I don’t see any cracks in it.  Does it really need to be replaced?

Express Car Care Answer:  I appreciate your concern.  Old style neoprene belts would crack with age, making it pretty obvious to drivers when they needed to be replaced.  Nowadays, serpentine belts are made from different material that doesn’t crack or glaze the way neoprene did.

Just to explain, the serpentine belt transfers power from the engine to various accessories, such as the alternator, power steering pump and air conditioning compressor – even the power brakes and water pump on some vehicles.  Modern serpentine belts have several grooves running their length.  These grooves mate with the pulleys on the accessories.  When the belt is within its useful life, it spins the accessories at the designed speed.

Over time, belt material is worn away.  When as little as 5% of the material is lost, the belt can slip and won’t spin the accessories properly, leading to stress and damage.

Using a special tool, your knowledgeable service adviser can measure the material lost in your serpentine belt.  He will indicate if it needs to be replaced.

It’s important for drivers to understand that the serpentine belt is part of the accessory belt drive system, which also includes the serpentine belt tensioner and any idler pulleys.  The belt tensioner has the same service life as the belt itself, so if it is time to replace the belt, you should also replace the tensioner and idler pulleys as well.

A worn belt tensioner can cause the belt to slip and not do the job it’s suppose to do.  Running too long with a worn belt, tensioner or idler pulleys causes excessive heat at the accessory pulleys, resulting in inefficiency, damage and premature replacement.

Express Car Care can perform tests to see if your serpentine belt is worn and should be replaced.  Ask your service adviser if it’s time for a serpentine belt system replacement

Question:

My Express Car Care service adviser said I need a new serpentine belt but I don’t see any cracks in it.  Does it really need to be replaced?

Express Car Care Answer:

I appreciate your concern.  Old style neoprene belts would crack with age, making it pretty obvious to Denver motorists when they needed to be replaced.  Nowadays, serpentine belts are made from a different material that doesn’t crack or glaze the way neoprene did.

Stepping back, the serpentine belt transfers power from the engine to various critical accessories like the alternator, power steering pump and air conditioning compressor, even the power brakes and water pump on some vehicles.  Modern serpentine belts have several grooves running their length.  These grooves mate with the pulleys on the accessories.  When the belt is within its useful life, it spins the accessories at the designed speed.

Over time, belt material is worn away.  When as little as 5% of the material is lost, the belt can slip and not properly spin the accessories leading to dangerous stress and expensive damage.

Using a special tool, your Express Car Care tech can measure the material lost in your serpentine belt.  He will know if it needs to be replaced.

It’s critical for Denver drivers to understand that the serpentine belt is part of the accessory belt drive system which also includes the serpentine belt tensioner and any idler pulleys.  The belt tensioner has the same service life as the belt itself, so if it is time to replace the belt, you should also replace the tensioner and idler pulleys as well.

A worn belt can cause belt slip and enough belt-slap to really hammer the accessory upstream from the tensioner.  Running too long with a worn belt, tensioner, or idler pulleys usually causes excessive heat at the accessory pulleys, resulting in inefficiency, expensive damage and premature replacement.

Express Car Care in Denver can perform a diagnostic examination to see if your belt or tensioner is worn and should be replaced.  Ask your service specialist if it’s time for a serpentine belt system replacement.