A Note On Melting Serpentine Belts

[Vegan]

The idler pulley directly above fan on engine has bearings in it that go bad. This causes the serpentine belt to melt and make a high pitch noise. New idler is about $70 at advanced auto.

[pj8708]

I can't tell from your post if this is the first time you've had this problem, or if it is a recurring problem.

If the bearings go bad and rub the belt out of alignment it would sound like the pulley is some how mounted out of "true center" with the belt tracking placement. It probably would'nt cost you a dime to have a reputable mechanic look it over and give you some advice.

Paul

[landar]

That part is known as the 'fan bracket' and it would not be a bad idea to replace it while doing the timing belt. However, it is not difficult to replace later, if it should fail. I always do a wiggle test on the bearing and if it seems sloppy, I would replace. Otherwise reuse.

[LSPaul]

If you're listening to your car, that particular bearing in the serp belt idler pulley will give you plenty of warning. Mine started to go over the winter; finding a replacement locally was tricky, although Autozone listed one that fit.

After I replaced it, things didn't sound right when I first started the car. What I found was that the shape of the replacement pulley was slightly different, so tightening the bolt locked the new idler pulley to the bracket. The fix (since it was hovering near zero degrees F that afternoon)? Press out the bearing from the OE pulley, press out the new pulley's bearing and swap that one into the OE idler pulley. Same bearing manufacturer and part number in both.

Paul

[vissine]

If you're listening to your car, that particular bearing in the serp belt idler pulley will give you plenty of warning. Mine started to go over the winter; finding a replacement locally was tricky, although Autozone listed one that fit.

After I replaced it, things didn't sound right when I first started the car. What I found was that the shape of the replacement pulley was slightly different, so tightening the bolt locked the new idler pulley to the bracket. The fix (since it was hovering near zero degrees F that afternoon)? Press out the bearing from the OE pulley, press out the new pulley's bearing and swap that one into the OE idler pulley. Same bearing manufacturer and part number in both.

Paul

I bought some parts from Autozone that didn't fit my cars especially the pulleys. First I thought I got the wrong one, but when I brought it back, the helper confirmed that was the only pulley on the screen.