Ziay!

kellygirl12498

My serpentine belt keeps slipping off. Everytime it rains, the sucker slips. Then I have to have it towed to a mechanic. Three trips (and nearly $600) later, it has come off AGAIN! Can anyone point me to directions (or diagram) on how I can fix this problem myself? Also, what tool(s) will I need?

lexusry

belt slip off are cause by miss align components.the belt should not slip off under any condition.you need sockets and ratchet to install the belt.first, check all the components that the belt ride on for looseness.if it loose,replace it.then, install the belt,look straight down and look at the section of the belt andsee where the belt is crooked which is cause by worn out part.

TheProfessor

Hi Kelly there are two parts to the answer to your question. The first part is how to do it and what tools are needed. That answer is here. http://www.rldassociates.com/zx2/howto/belt.htm

The second part is why does it keep coming off. The answer to this is trickier. Serpentine belts must be very carefully aligned. Even an eighth of an inch out of alignment can cause the belt to slip off or fail prematurely. Once the belt is installed you must be sure that the two idler pulleys and the belt pretensioner pully (see diagram at URL above) are exactly in line. One way to do this, if you have a good eye is to sight down the edge of the belt from several angles to be sure that all of the edges match. If they don't you will need to adjust one or more of the pulleys. Another, more accurate way is to place a straight edge (a metal yardstick would be perfect, but a piece of pipe or angle iron could be used too, against the edges of the belt to be sure that all of them are perfectly in line.

If everything is lined up and the belt is properly tensioned that should take care of your problem permanently. If it doesn't, the pretensioner is probably either worn out or out of adjustment. Ford uses nylon spacers in the pretensioner and they can become brittle and fail because of age and the heat in the engine compartment. Good luck with this. I hope it helps. It's a job with some challenges because of how difficult it is to get at all of the twists and turns of the belt.