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car is eating serpentine belts?

9

98GRANDPRIXGTP

New member
when i bought my GTP the serpentine belt around the alternator was torn on the last like 1 rib of the belt ( side closest to the motor ) , so i had a shop replace the belt for me , now like 3 days later the belt is torn in the same spot?? something is chewing the edge of the belt off to the point of ripping one rib off the belt, just giving it a visual insp from up top i cant see where it would be catching and tearing it at but its not tearing it just from start up cause i had checked the belt after i got home that day and it was fine... so after putting about 100 miles on it its torn again? any ideas?
 


Usually the tensioner is faulty which causes the belt to slip sporadically. I'd replaced the tensioner or at least get it checked. It should take a lot of torque to remove the belt with th etensioner tool or ratchet head.
 
schroedes said:
well its easy, your car is ****ing old, face it, get a job and buy a new one
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damn! were did that come from? dont think i said anything about having to buy another belt... im not just gonna put another belt on without fixing the problem. maybe thats how you work but not me..
 


well after looking at the pullies today im thinking the alternator pulley is a little bit narrower then the others. im not sure if its the factory one or not, says delphi automotive on it. thats GM right? the alt pulley measures exactly 1" wide were the others measure a little bit wider like 1-1/8. are there any other ALT's that could fit the GTP that have a slightly diff pulley on it or ??
 
BUMP, my buddy has the SAME EXACT PROBLEM, that I'm trying to diagnose! Any resolution to this?
 
copgtp said:
BUMP, my buddy has the SAME EXACT PROBLEM, that I'm trying to diagnose! Any resolution to this?
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put a metal straight edge across the pulleys to see if they line up, i swapped out a power steering pump on my truck, and i had to pull the pulley off to put on the new pump, i was off by 2 8th's of a inch, the belt shredded and it hit the oil cooler lines and pulled them from their clips, then they dragged on the balancer and cut apart and leaked , one job turned into 2 real fast. (i was stuck doing this job on new years eve in my drive way during a snow storm, freezing my ass off and had to get back on the road because i was snow plowing, 100 bucks an hour lost every hr i was off the job, the belt shredded the next day and the lines cut the day after, nightmare)
 
Another thing I would check is whether the idler and tensioner pulleys spin freely.

My car tore up half a serpentine belt on the highway. When I took off the old belt, I spun all the pulleys by hand.

Both the idler and tensioner pulley didn't spin easily. I'm guessing that didn't help the situation. So I replaced them both.

You can change out the pulleys and belts yourself. All you need is a 15mm socket with a long handled ratcheting wrench.

GM-3800-II-Serpentine-Belt-Replacement-Guide-043.JPG


GM-3800-II-Idler-and-Tensioner-Pulley-Replacement-042.JPG
 


Thanks for the information guys.

The belt did shred before I put the new power steering pump on.

I will check with with a straight edge on the pullies.

The belt is shredding from the inside, not the outside..... No build up on any of the smaller pullies.
 
I know a buddy of mine was having this problem but his was due to having build up on the tensioner pulley and as soon as he replaced that problem solved
 
copgtp said:
Thanks for the information guys.

The belt did shred before I put the new power steering pump on.

I will check with with a straight edge on the pullies.

The belt is shredding from the inside, not the outside..... No build up on any of the smaller pullies.
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small world here, i know who's car you are working on, lol my brother works with sean over at tractor supply, big hairy Ted is my brother. i was talking to him and he was telling about the problems he was having, so i put 2 + 2 together.
 
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