Fuel for Thought

The Serpentine Belt

A couple weeks ago, Gene mentioned his recent serpentine belt failure which prompts me to revisit my original dealings with belt issues. Summed up, if I change one part of the belt group, I replace all the components. At 200,000 miles, the original serpentine belt was crumbled and cracking. I had the belt replaced at a Dodge dealership. Three weeks later the belt tensioner seized and shredded the new belt. I was towed to a remote Dodge dealership. The best part of the story was that the original dealership that changed the belt was the parts supplier for the remote dealership two hours away. The big dealership showed they had a belt tensioner in inventory, but they refused to release the part to the little dealership saying they had to keep it in inventory to support a priority customer. A short phone call from me and the part was en route to Poplar Bluffs, Missouri. After this experience, I always replace serpentine belt, short radiator belt, belt tensioner and two small pulleys as a group. Euro-Parts of San Diego sells the serpentine belt, tensioner and pulleys in a package for $240. The radiator belt is $20. When I replace the group I order another set and carry it in the van just in case. 150,000 miles after the belt tensioner failure, my air conditioner compressor seized and shredded the belt, but I had the belt package available for the shop to replace everything while they waited for the new air conditioner compressor to arrive. The new belts and tensioners seem to be made better than the original. They still look good at 200,000 miles, but I try to change them before then anyway. There is a third, more solid pulley at the top of the belt routing. I think it is called a belt support bearing or something like that (I think the nomenclature might be different between Mercedes and Freightliner parts lists). This last time when I had the belt replaced at 568,000 miles the third bearing showed play, so I had it replaced too. An additional note is that even though I carry the spare belts, I don’t do so to make emergency roadside repairs. I carry the parts so they are available for a mechanic to install after inspecting for additional damage that may have been caused by a disintegrating belt. I MIGHT try a belt replacement on an 2006 or older Sprinter, but the 2007 or newer are tight spaced and hard to work on without a proper work area.

eb