How Easy is It to Change a Serpentine Belt
The function of a serpentine belt is very simple: it transmits engine power from the crankshaft to the driven accessories. Typically, those would exist the water pump, the alternator, the AC compressor, and the power steering pump. Some engines accept fewer things while others (such equally diesel fuel engines) have more.
The serpentine chugalug is held in constant tension – allowing it to maintain its grip on the accompaniment pulleys past a belt tensioner. The operation of replacing a serpentine belt is substantially pivoting the tensioner away and slipping the onetime belt off, and then, positioning a new 1 in its place and releasing the tensioner.
In most cases, it's an easy functioning. Labor is commonly virtually a half-hour, give or take, on most passenger vehicles and gas-engine trucks. Some diesel engines with a multitude of accessories and hard access can accept as much equally ii.1 hours.
Cost of Serpentine Chugalug Replacement
Below are some of the serpentine belt replacement price examples for some vehicle models using the average shop labor rate of $100 an hour:
- 2010 Chevrolet Malibu with the two.4-liter engine – labor is 0.vii hours, an ACDelco belt is $xv or $29 at dealer prices. The total task cost would be nearly $85 at an independent shop and nearly $100 at a dealership.
- 2007 Volkswagen Jetta with a 2.5-liter engine – labor is one hr, a Gates replacement belt is about $12 or an OE belt is about $42. The total chore cost would be about $112 at an contained shop or $142 with dealer parts.
- 2012 Ram 1500 with the 5.vii-liter engine – labor is 0.4 hours, a Dayco belt is about $xx while the mill belt runs at around $43. The total job cost would exist about $64 with the aftermarket office or $104 with the OE role.
- 2008 Ford F-250 with the 6.4-liter diesel fuel engine – labor (past book fourth dimension) is two.1 hours. With the dual alternator option, a Motocraft belt is virtually $38 or $82 through a dealership. The total cost for the job is nigh $248 at an contained shop or $292 at a dealership. This would be on the costly terminate of the spectrum.
Of course, the cost to replace the serpentine belt for both the parts and labor varies everywhere – from region to region and shop to shop. And it should be added that these costs are for the main or primary drive belt.
In some cases, vehicles will use more than than ane serpentine belt. Usually, the not-master belt will be smaller and less expensive.
In near cases, if the primary belt is beingness replaced, it will be recommended to supervene upon the secondary belt too. The labor time is either included with the main belt or sometimes, a small amount will be added to the price.
How Serpentine Belts Fail
The construction of a serpentine belt is basically rubber over a strong material backing. Rubber has a very good grip and resilience when it's fresh, but it hardens and loses those properties as it ages.
Its useful life varies, but inspection at 5 years or 90,000 miles is a mutual recommendation. On a serpentine belt, the mutual sign of age-related failure is slipping on the pulleys which is noticeably noisy. Most oftentimes, that's when a belt gets replaced.
In other cases, the belt doesn't slip or make noise, simply the rubber tin can start to fissure beyond the ribbed department. Information technology'southward a good idea to supervene upon it so.
Belts can also come autonomously, the cloth backing tin can tear, and shred into the pulleys as the engine spins. Usually, that only happens subsequently the belt has begun to scissure. Hence, it's a good idea to supplant a croaky chugalug.
What Else Can Get Incorrect?
The chugalug tensioner is unremarkably checked when the chugalug is off. These have an internal spring (or sometimes, an oil-charged mechanism) that holds the belt in tension and should exist checked for smoothness of movement and fifty-fifty tension.
As the tensioner works, information technology must move with whatsoever irregularities in the other pulleys and this abiding move can cause wear in the tensioner housing. This can exist checked for play or damage with the belt off.
While the belt is off, information technology'southward a proficient idea to spin the pulleys of the accessories (and whatever idler pulleys) to verify that the bearings are smoothen. Sometimes a failed belt is caused by a failing bearing and sometimes, what is taken for chugalug noise turns out to exist noise in something driven by the belt. It's not always possible to verify a trouble prior to removing the belt.
Another matter that tin can go wrong is pulley alignment. If the pulleys aren't aligned on the same aeroplane, the belt tin jump a rib, wear on its edges, or brand noise.
About pulleys will naturally align perfectly if installed correctly, but bearing issues can cause them to misalign. On the harmonic balancer, sometimes, the bonding of the outer pulley to the inner machined core tin neglect and that also causes a misalignment.
Pulleys can also go contaminated. If at that place is a leak that has gotten on the belt, information technology can leave gummy deposits or even fragments of the old worn chugalug lodged in the caster grooves.
Information technology's always a good idea to check these and clean as necessary to avoid further problems. And, of course, accost leaks to preclude a recurrence.
Stretch Belts
This is a blazon of serpentine belt that is becoming more common; generally as a non-primary belt on several makes of vehicles. Unlike the conventional serpentine belt, it has a synthetic prophylactic compound over an elastic core.
The easiest way to identify a stretch belt is that it uses no belt tensioner simply uses its own elastic properties to maintain tension.
Stretch belts usually don't crack or wear as patently as a conventional serpentine chugalug. Sometimes, they have a specification for rib depth which can be measured with special tools and the casing can be examined for integrity.
A stretch belt requires a special tool to install and is usually considered "single-use" due to the ease with which it can exist damaged. If a stretch chugalug has to exist removed, information technology is unremarkably recommended that it be replaced.
The lifespan of a stretch belt is estimated to be about the same as a conventional serpentine belt. Hence, the usual recommendation is to supersede both of them at the aforementioned fourth dimension when servicing a principal serpentine belt on an engine that likewise has a secondary stretch belt.
Source: https://spendonauto.com/serpentine-belt-replacement-cost/
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