Life expectancy of ribbed auxiliary drive belt

[philharve]

Hi All

What is the typical life expectancy of the multi-ribbed, auxiliary drive belt, the one that drives the alternator, coolant pump, power steering pump, etc?

Mine is showing its age and has developed slight cracking but my indie is not unduly worried. He'll change it the next time my car is in for servicing which should be in 2 - 3 months time.

Is it expensive and difficult to replace? Looks a simple and quick enough task.

REGARDS

Phil

 

[anyweb]

no idea of the life expectancy, but when i got my viscous fan coupling replaced my indie also replaced the belt and showed me the old one, it had as you say lots of cracks etc so I didn't mind.

Better to have a nice new one than have it go snap on you when you least expect it.

cheers
\anyweb

 

[hmang]

ask your indie if he'll come out at mid night and change it at the side of the road,in the rain ...for free...and then see how unduly worried he is.

 

[BlackC55]

I have seen them snap and cause some damage. As soon as the cracks appear get it changed. It not exactly difficult or expensive to do either.

 

[Cnics]

and for the price, put a new one on whenever you take it off for anything else... ie viscous fan like anyweb says.

All i know is mine did 95k before i had a viscous fan and alternator pulley done, i was therefore more than happy to put a new belt on.

Rob

 

[jibcl500]

I replaced mine on the CL took 10 mins if that, bought it from eurosendthewrongparts, less than £20, made by Continental, if the rubber starts to look fractured, cracks etc then replace it. If it breaks the only dramatic problem is loss of power steering and the possibly overheating if driven any great distance.
The will be a diagram in the owners manual for the belt so once removed its easy to forget where it went.

jib

 

[Sprint'n'Go]

I have just bought a 2000X 4ltr jeep cherokee and as part of my service regime I changed the belt. It was genuine so could have been original and was still doing it's job but was starting to look a bit pathetic after 113k. The new one from Jeep came with the familiar Milton Keynes despatch sticker on the packet so I asked at the parts desk guy and he confirmed all the parts come from the shared daimler chrysler warehouse. Annoyingly, when I had changed it I compared it to one a Merc mechanic gave me after some warranty work on the van. It was as new and appeares to be dimensionaly identical to the jeep one. This is a suprise as one is for an I6 american built petrol engine and the other is for a german built I5 diesel. I wonder who is cheapest and if their are any other shared service parts?

 

[dava]

Cant go along with your indies thoughts, if it does snap and they do! It will only mean you got no power steering, just what you need on a bend and they do cause quite a bit of damage if they get tangled up.

 

[mike65]

If its got lots of those little cross-ways cracks and any signs of glazing then replace it. Cheap and as said a 10 min job if you know how to loosen/tighten the belt adjuster contraption.

Mike.

 

[Cnics]

Surely it would mean the alternator doesn't charge aswell...... not ideal at night in the rain....

 

[hmang]

i've heard of this twice and seen it once on 210 e320 cdi where the belt snaps and puts a hole in the radiator.

total misery...if in doubt change it.

 

[rodisi]

I'm just about to order and change my belt so I'm reviving this thread because I can't figure out where the tensioner is, if there is one or if I need to loosen a part like the alternator. I'd appreciate a hint. The car is an E220 (W210 - whatever that means) and has air conditioning. If I'm also correct, the part number is A0149970492 or A0129970792.

Thanks

 

[Frontstep]

Use a mirror and a light and this sort of thing appears you just use a spanner a 17mm on the torq head if I remember then just rotate against the spring pressure.
A picture of the belt route is useful.
Its just below the power steering pump pulley in your picture.

 

[turbopete]

i think i better invest in a new belt before too long then. its the original belt (unless it was changed in its first 7k miles) so almost 12 years and 115k miles old!

 

[brianbrian]

Perhaps I go over the top, change ours when I replace atf in g/box and T/C 40000mls. Hope this helps

 

[PieterH]

Hi, the belt (known as the serpentine belt on my CDI 220 was badly worn by 148 000 km. I paid 44 pounds for a new one at MB. (I stay in South Africa so the cost in Rands was R575.00) I took me 15 minutes to replace.

 

[drdel]

No brainer- the actual answer doesn't matter. You've obviously asked the question because you have a concern. You're in doubt so change it; sleep peacefully and drive relaxed !!

 

[television]

By looking at the belt where it passes over the smallest pulley, if it is time up for the belt crazing will be seen on the belt over the smallest pulley