about two years ago I notices about 1/5 of my sepentine belt desintegrated and was missing. I only noticed when I was checking my oil and found the dipstick was GONE. that got me to looking around and noticed some whip marks on the hood insulation. Anyway, I replaced the belt and got a new dip stick. Kept an eye on it for a few months and no problems.

Two months ago I was sitting at a stop light and heard some strange noises under the hood. Got to a parking lot, opened the hood and the belt had krept over the air conditioning pully and the same amount of belt (about 1/5) was slapping around. I replaced it and now it keeps riding up over the edge of the AC pulley. I need to put it back on every 500 miles or so. The power steering pulley has about 1/16 max 1/8 inch play front to back but seems to be spinning true. The belt itself seems like it has no where near enough tension on it I dont remember being able to push the belt down so easily (just with my hand )

Has anyone had this experiance. Is it likely the tensioner spring has lost its strength?

Thanks much.

191000 miles water pump is fairly new but everything else is most likely original.

 

GOTTA BE THE TENSIONER ASSUMING YOU HAVE THE RIGHT LENGTH BELT ON THE TRUCK ATM.

OOPS CAPS.

 

make sure the belt is right, and the tensioner is stiff but still moves withought sticking (any doubts, would not hurt to replace it) then also check your water pump and other pulleys for bad bearings. I have seen a few bad water pumps let the belt SLIDE off track enough to slowly shred it.

 

The tensioner and idler pulleys would be what I would check first. Both ride on ball bearings and if the bearings get bad they can actually tear up the bearing and cause misalignment. If those two check out ok check the alignment of all the pulleys with a straight edge and check for play in the water pump, alternator and A/C compressor. All it takes is a slight misalignment or cocked pulley to throw the belt off.

 

it was the tension-er. It came of in 3 pieces, front back and spring. I got real motivated when I checked it and it was no longer taking 500 miles to creep over the edge of the AC pulley but more like 5 revolutions.