da 1 pumpin up

The last two days my serpentine belt has come off. And of course at the most inconvenient time(right before work). It has happened in my apartment garage every time which has turns right when you reach the next floor up or down. Idk if when i reach this angle that is when it is coming off or not. I am very worried to drive the car because when the belt comes off I can barely steer. I replaced the belt and drove it a couple times but then it came off again this morning, so that doesn't seem to be the problem.

So do you think the tensioner is the problem? Or is it somewhere else? I have been living at this apartment complex for 2 weeks and the problem has just now arisen... I have no idea what could be causing this! Please give me some thoughts.

zachrywd_01TA

If it's not the tensioner.. what else could it be? Unless maybe you're using the wrong size belt and I assume all your pulleys spin straight.

da 1 pumpin up

Thats what I was thinking. Do you think a full lock turn at the same time as the car hitting level ground coming off a ramp could cause an angle or change the pulley alignment and make it come off? I did change the idler pulley with one from O'reilly's 1.5 months ago but it didn't throw the belt off anytime until now. Guess I might have to take it to a dealership to get it looked at.

zachrywd_01TA

There's nothing that should change anything about the pully alignment unless you have a wobbly pully, or an accessory thats not bolted on... or the moon is to close to the earth. Can you move the tensioner by just pressing on it with your hand? ...with the motor off of course.

My friend bounced his belt half way off tensioner on his SS... But he was bouncing the rev limited in the burnout pit when it happened.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Some apartment complexes can cause this to happen............ just kiddin.

You have a bad pulley most likely. But you could also have one of the pulleys in the whole system that might be coming loose. That "new" O'Rielleys tensioner can also simply be a dud....

If all the pulleys are tight.....and they are all lined up still.....get a new belt and spend the money on a Katech fixed tensioner. You will never loose a belt again.

DO NOT go to the dealer..........you will get a bill so ****** big it will be enough to pay for 2 new Katech tensioners.

*****A serpentine belt should easily last 7-8 years. My belt on my car is at 8 years right now, it still looks great. The only reason belts wear out in 2-3 years is because of the dumb *** design of the GM tensioner that "bounces" with a spring. The tensioner needs to be fixed, no spring. This eliminates belt stretch from that "bouncing", which keeps the belt tight and keeps it at its manufactured size. When they stretch, the pop off and break way early in life.

I think you bought a "dud" tensioner from O'Riellys. Get a Katech. They are a sponsor here.

Here it is....dude...its $120.00. The dealership will be way more in the end. Return that O'Riellys piece of crap and tell them you lost 3 belts because its bad. Tell them the dealership tested it and said its a dud, maybe they'll give you a refund. Just tell them the car is at the dealership getting fixed with a new one already and you do not want another one, just a refund.
http://store.katechengines.com/bille...sioner-p2.aspx

.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

The tensoner has index marks on it. What does yours look like when the belt is on? The one mark on the pulley side should be between the two marks on the tensioner body.

Looking at the marks will help zero in on the problem. Did you follow the belt routing diagram on the driver's side strut tower when you put everything back on?

da 1 pumpin up

The tensioner is at about the middle line of the three with the new belt on. I lined the belt up straight on each pulley. The two places where the belt is coming off is on the idler pulley and the pulley that is large at the middle bottom of the car. Immediately after I start the car the belt will move on the idler pulley towards the front part of the car(and will obviously eventually come off as it has the last few days) and then on the pulley at the middle bottom of the engine it will come out of that grooved pulley and like 1/3 of the belt will be on that pulleys edge. Anytime i start the car and the belt was lined up it will immediately go back to the edges of those pulleys...

I really cant figure this out and its driving me crazy!

da 1 pumpin up

The idler pulley I got from o reilly's does have a rounded off edge for some reason and that is the area it is sliding down but there is also a large enough flat area that I am placing the belt on and where it is lined up that it shouldnt even reach that area. But it is, immediately once being started.

IDK why this problem would arise all of a sudden after it being on the car 1.5 months though.. So idk maybe I should just get another pulley and see if that solves it.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Are you following the routing diagram on the driver's side strut tower? The belt will go on different ways and if its not routed correctly, it will walk.

The other thing is that the grooves in the belt and the grooved pulleys should keep everything straight. If the belt starts walking off the idler pulley, I would think that the pulley is not in the right place. Its probably positioned too far back towards the engine. Did you keep the metal spacers and bolt that were on your old pulley?