Just got my '94 Ranger XLT back from the garage. Once again they had to replace the serpentine belt.

This will be the fourth time in five years that the belt has been replaced. Have barely driven the darn thing 10,000 miles since the last change.

Does anyone else here have any experience with this kind of thing? Sometimes I feel like the mechanic is jerking me around (although I would hate to believe that of him).

Grrrrr!!!!

 

They don't go bad that fast unless there is maybe a damaged pulley cutting the belt. I would have asked him to justify the need for replacement.

 

my experience:
every mechanic will look at a belt and if they see cracks they will tell you that it needs to be replaced. That would be about every oil change.... I end up replacing them about every 2 years, or if they look extreamly warn or if chunks start falling off. I always keep an old one near by just incase one brakes, I can change it on the side of the road if need be. Knock on wood, it has never happend to me, but I am ready if it does.
Do I think your mechanic is ripping you off, "no". He is probably trying to keep your truck in the best possible condition. He doesn't see if it has gotten any worse since last month, he only sees cracks. You should watch this more closely, and you can choose to ignore his advice.

tom

 

I check under the hood pretty frequently, and don't remember seeing any cracks as recently as last weekend, but maybe he's seeing something I don't. IMHO if the belts are wearing out that quickly, then I would check the pulley system...instead, I was told, "That's how it goes sometimes. I had a car that did the same thing one time."


So is this a common Ranger problem? Anybody else replace them that often?

 

If there is damage to the belt this frequently, something has got to be causing it. Entirely to short a time span to be changing this often.

 

All of the responses above have truth to them. Has the mechanic said why the belt needs to be changed? e.g. making noise, chunks out of it. cracked? Once we understand why the belt was changed hopefully we can assist in helping you figure out why this is happening.

Minor cracking such as weather checking and the like are nothing to be particularly concerned about. As Tbiker 99 said, they should be changed due to age and deterioration of the rubber and your owners manual most likely suggests an interval for that purpose. If the belt is chafing, has chunks out of it or squeals, let us know and we will try to help.

Russ

 

If its a 2.3 I have had to change my idler pully and the lower cam shaft pully but it now has 160000 miles on it

 

I got my 93 4.0 3 years ago with 89k miles on it, I've put 36k miles on it and am now at 125k and still have the same serpentine belt. I would ask them to show you what is wrong with the belt to justify the replacing and iff it is bad try to trouble shoot possible causes for it to go bad so often if it really is bad.