Reasons why your car’s Serpentine Belt is important

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When you first get your car, looking through the manual can be a little overwhelming as it seems like your medium of transport is made up of a gazillion parts. While you’re not expected to know what everything does, it’s good to know certain important parts even before something stops functioning and you need to order a new part.

 

Reasons why your car’s Serpentine Belt is important

The serpentine belt, drive belt or v-belt is a rubber belt that connects the alternator, power steering, and AC to the part of the engine (crankshaft) which transfers the power from the engine to those components.  It transports power to your vital automotive components.

The serpentine belt is one long, snaking, winding belt that keeps your alternator, power steering pump, air conditioning and, in some cases,  your water pump running smoothly and effectively. Without this belt, the battery will not get charged and none of the electrical accessory components in the car will work. The serpentine belt and v-belt are also known as “drive belts.”

What happens with a weak functioning serpentine belt? 

Because of the high amount of heat generated in the engine and transferred to the surrounding parts under the hood, the belt can develop cracks over time and eventually break. If the belt breaks, the steering wheel will be difficult to turn and driving will be hazardous.(And nobody wants that happening on a road trip or a deserted road!)

These belts can wear, fray, crack or become shiny or “glazed,” and rubber parts can peel off the belt. An aging belt can also begin slipping or squealing, become contaminated with fluid or become misaligned, in which case it will need to be replaced. An old belt can even snap, without which drive torque to all of the engine’s accessories is lost.

In some cars, coolant pumps are driven by the drive belts. If the belt breaks, coolant needed to keep the engine cool will not properly flow to the engine. The engine will overheat, potentially causing severe damage. Under ideal conditions, a belt should last for an average of 60,000 to 100,000 miles. However, some belts are manually tensioned and may need to be adjusted. Others have a self-tensioning mechanism that can experience wear over time and may need to be serviced.

One thing to remember: in most cases, if the belt breaks, the vehicle will stop running.

Symptoms and signs of belt failure and wear

1.    Squeaking, squealing, and or chirping like noises.
2.   System performance loss, loss of accelerative power, failure and lack of responsiveness in your power steering, the car’s battery suddenly drains or your engine just stops. All these things are controlled by a properly functioning serpentine or V-belt. Once your belt is compromised, it can produce further damage to the vital systems – such as the alternator, water pump, power steering and air conditioning – that depend on it. Unfortunately, the resulting damage can require extensive repair, with very little warning leading up to the event.
3.  Check engine light may also turn on with a poorly functioning alternator and or poor cooling secondary to the poor performance of the serpentine belt.

My Serpentine Belt needs to be replaced. Now what?

You can order this with your local dealership or even off Amazon, based on  your vehicle’s model, edition and year of manufacture. But remember, either way, you will have to wait a day, or two, or even more for the belt to arrive. To avoid all this, have your serpentine belt inspected during every oil change or at least twice a year to prevent being stalled during a trip or on the way to your work.

Serpentine belt and its role in your car's performance - MommySnippets.com

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.If you’re in the market for a new or pre-owned vehicle in the Patchogue, NY area, visit the Brown’s Chrysler Jeep Dodge RAM dealership our partners for this feature. You know the success of a smooth drive always lies with the reliability of the vehicle you own.
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