Notices
Maintenance & Repair 350Z up keep and diagnosing/fixing problems

What causes premature serpentine belt tears?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 03-16-2010, 02:36 PM
  #1  
Hydralisk
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Hydralisk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: OK
Posts: 549
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default What causes premature serpentine belt tears?





This is what my 3rd belt look like with 20,000 miles on it.


Bought the car with no miles on it.
4,000 miles into the car, the belt tears into a hairball. There is no belt, just alot of long threads all over the place. Dealership replaces the AC assembly.

11,000 miles into the car, the belt does the exact same. Long rubber threads everywhere. A different dealership replaces the automatic belt tensioner.

30,000 miles now. The third belt is what you see above. Luckily I caught it before I started driving again. The dealership says all of the pulleys are aligned and they just dont know what it is. I guess all the pulleys still rotate as well and all is fine. So they ordered a new belt to.... experiment, or "see what happens"

What else could cause this?

I haven't even got a chance to really push the Z in some real drift events.

Last edited by Hydralisk; 03-16-2010 at 03:09 PM. Reason: misspelled pulley.
Old 03-16-2010, 02:40 PM
  #2  
nismonian
New Member
iTrader: (11)
 
nismonian's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Tampa Bay
Posts: 1,165
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default

check engine bay for animals
Old 03-16-2010, 02:57 PM
  #3  
Lakeside
Registered User
iTrader: (5)
 
Lakeside's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Clifton Park, NY
Posts: 1,537
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

This isn't a rare occurence! HR's seem to eat belts. There have been several threads since the release of the HR. I check mine every oil change just to be safe.
Old 03-16-2010, 03:13 PM
  #4  
Hydralisk
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Hydralisk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: OK
Posts: 549
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Yeah... and I guess belts are not normally kept in stock so I have to wait a week just for a belt... then however else long it takes for them to play with it.
Old 03-16-2010, 03:15 PM
  #5  
Hydralisk
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Hydralisk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: OK
Posts: 549
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by nismonian
check engine bay for animals
I dont think any animals are eating this belt like its corn on the cob.
Old 03-16-2010, 03:40 PM
  #6  
Guilty1s
New Member
iTrader: (12)
 
Guilty1s's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 546
Received 4 Likes on 4 Posts
Default

faulty pulley tensioners... mine was not tight flush with the engine and caused belt to slide slightly over until it looked exactly like the above
Old 03-16-2010, 04:11 PM
  #7  
Hydralisk
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Hydralisk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: OK
Posts: 549
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

That makes sense, thanks! I will have to look into that.
Old 03-16-2010, 04:55 PM
  #8  
Hydralisk
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Hydralisk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: OK
Posts: 549
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

I also heard about motor mounts.
Something to the lines of... when your motor is revving, its moving, and its causing the belt to overtighten.... How can I even check this?
Old 03-16-2010, 07:52 PM
  #9  
davidv
Registered User
iTrader: (2)
 
davidv's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 42,754
Likes: 0
Received 10 Likes on 10 Posts
Default

a. Improper tension
b. Improper alignment. Pulleys are not aligned.
3. High resistance of (a) slave pulley. Drive pulley turns the slave. If the slave unit offers a high resistance (bad bearings for example), the belt will wear prematurely.
Old 03-17-2010, 03:42 AM
  #10  
nismo542
Registered User
iTrader: (2)
 
nismo542's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: SC
Posts: 138
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 1 Post
Default

yep happened to me after 5k miles. i replaced with a gates belt which was much higher quality, plus i got an extra that i keep with the spare tire. i never figured the serp belt would have to be ordered, so i got 2. at napa, not the stealership.
Old 03-17-2010, 08:19 AM
  #11  
Hydralisk
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Hydralisk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: OK
Posts: 549
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by davidv
a. Improper tension
b. Improper alignment. Pulleys are not aligned.
3. High resistance of (a) slave pulley. Drive pulley turns the slave. If the slave unit offers a high resistance (bad bearings for example), the belt will wear prematurely.
Okay, I appreciate this, I will bring this up with the shop!

Originally Posted by nismo542
yep happened to me after 5k miles. i replaced with a gates belt which was much higher quality, plus i got an extra that i keep with the spare tire. i never figured the serp belt would have to be ordered, so i got 2. at napa, not the stealership.
Good deal, I was thinking about this last night as well. I just think the OEM belts suck in general.. I will do this also. Thanks!
Old 03-17-2010, 08:27 AM
  #12  
06blueZ
Registered User
iTrader: (10)
 
06blueZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 899
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

looking at this picture, it seems that the belt might have been installed shifted one groove out... I dont remember seeing a gap like that on the inside of the pulley...

Old 03-17-2010, 08:39 AM
  #13  
Zazz93
New Member
iTrader: (2)
 
Zazz93's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: So Cal
Posts: 1,769
Received 8 Likes on 6 Posts
Default

I don't think the motor mount could cause this due to the description provided. I'm more familiar with DE's but I think the HR is similar in that it doesn't mount any belt off the motor. So the motor can move all it wants and the belts will just move with the motor because it is mounted directly to the motor. But it may have some validity in the fact it may cause a movement that puts the belts in contact with another set item. This belt looks like something cut or damaged it (doesn't seem like normal accelerated wear) so look around for items that would contact the forward edge of the belt. Also check the other suggestions mentioned in the thread as most are excellent ideas and where I would personally start.

As a reference, my stock belts went 80,000+ before I just decided to change them out. Granted, So Cal is easy on these type of wear items because of the near-constant year round weather.

Last edited by Zazz93; 03-17-2010 at 08:40 AM.
Old 03-17-2010, 08:53 AM
  #14  
Hydralisk
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Hydralisk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: OK
Posts: 549
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Cool thanks you two.
I dont know what could be rubbing it wrong but I will check tommorrow. Everything under the hood is OEM.
But only that pulley is where it looks to be one notch off, the other pulleys were on correctly but they said everything was aligned still.. so I was at a lost.
Old 03-17-2010, 11:26 PM
  #15  
itsjiggajames
Registered User
iTrader: (5)
 
itsjiggajames's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: IE - LA- Cali
Posts: 1,195
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

odd.. 33k belt looks new on my HR still.
Old 03-17-2010, 11:53 PM
  #16  
kramykram
Registered User
iTrader: (135)
 
kramykram's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: biloxi,mississippi
Posts: 5,695
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

only 12k on my car but still look new also.
Old 03-18-2010, 04:23 PM
  #17  
prnstr40
Registered User
 
prnstr40's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: NY
Posts: 81
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

im on my 3rd with only 38k miles
Old 03-23-2010, 03:52 PM
  #18  
D'sNuts
New Member
iTrader: (5)
 
D'sNuts's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Redwood City, CA
Posts: 332
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

I'm aware and weary of this issue with the HR belts. My 07 has 52k on it and the belt looks to still be in great condition. I would be interested to know what variables and factors correlate with this problem as I seem to abuse my z through long trips from Cali to AZ as well as pretty aggressive driving through the mountains..
Old 04-03-2010, 04:42 PM
  #19  
SniperHunter
Registered User
iTrader: (9)
 
SniperHunter's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 4,080
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Sorry for the week old bump, but I'm experiencing something different on my DE. During the install of my ART Pipes and oil change yesterday, I noticed a piece of black string hanging when the undercarriage panel was dropped. We pulled on it and it was a thread from the side of the drive belt that had tore off. Crazy.

My car has 36k on it right now. I'm looking for suggestions, what's a good belt to replace with?
Old 04-03-2010, 04:48 PM
  #20  
GHOST1207
Registered User
iTrader: (23)
 
GHOST1207's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: SoCal/High Desert Area
Posts: 2,397
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

22k, been on the same belt, bought brand new with 50 miles on the odo. Starting to look pretty thin though.


Quick Reply: What causes premature serpentine belt tears?



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 10:17 PM.