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Belt preference?

Serpentine belts are less likely to jump off pulleys at higher rpm and have a much larger contact patch to prevent slipping under high load. Also only having one spare belt to carry and maintain.
 
And if a serp belt fails or does jump off--you lose ALL your functions--no power steering,water pump,alternator,all at once !..:eek: .but its not too often they do that,but not impossible either--a idler or tensioner pulley can have a bearing fail,and some are made of plastic..

V-belts can suck to change--especially the one behind all the other belts,you have to remove them all to replace that one..
 
diesel4me said:
And if a serp belt fails or does jump off--you lose ALL your functions--no power steering,water pump,alternator,all at once !..:eek: .but its not too often they do that,but not impossible either--a idler or tensioner pulley can have a bearing fail,and some are made of plastic..

V-belts can suck to change--especially the one behind all the other belts,you have to remove them all to replace that one..
Click to expand...

Serp belt failures are pretty easy to prevent if you do check it out during your regular maintenance. If you have more than 10 cracks per inch in the ribbed side of the belt it's time to chuck it. If you aren't looking at the belt during your maintenance then you deserve the belt to fail. As far as the tensioner or idler pulley failures, again if you hear squeeling you better check it out. You'll have advanced warning of a problem there for sure. My favorite is when a customer's vehicle gets towed in due to a belt failure and when asked I get told "oh it just started making noise today and then all of the sudden everything quit." We look it over and the plastic idler pulley is still smoking 30 minutes later. No flipping way that bearing had not been signing like mad for some time.

Even with the impending doom of loosing ALL accessories when a serp belt fails, carry a spare. They take 5 minutes to change out. Again, if you were paying attention you shouldn't have a major failure like a idler or tensioner quitting without warning.

V-belts, bring the suck. Belts stretch and require adjustment periodically. They are very prone to flipping or throwing with high rpm if that adjustment isn't just right. Collateral damage is always possible. Meaning if the belt that is the farthest back fails the broken/tossed belt can fall in the way of another belt and take it off track. Replacing them takes a lot of time if you have to go after any of the many that one might have. The other issue is V-belts are going the way of the dinosaurs. GM dumped them in the late 80's and most other OEMS did the same thing at the same time for the most part. You can still get them, but it's getting harder for the oddball stuff.

I've got a stock Serp setup on my 5.3 and it's stone simple and reliable. I kept the serp setup on my 350 I kept from my 75. It will go on my 69 Nova when I swap the Vortec heads on it. That's even with it having 2 belts on it, one for the alt and another for the p/s pump. I'm over the issues I've had with it in the past.
 
Thanks for the replies. Eventually I may switch on my truggy project. But for now v-belts it is . I have got to say they have been pretty reliable. Knock on wood!
 
I'n not very fond of the v-belts on the alternator on my 6.2 diesels--they flap and vibrate like crazy at idle,and squeal like a stuck pig often after a cold start,even when so tight you risk ruining the water pump and alternator bearings..

Also the P/S belt has to be tight,especially on ones with no A/C that only have one belt--that P/S pump runs the power brakes AND steering--lose that belt,or have it get splashed after going through some deep puddles and you'll soon find out you cant steer or stop very well,I nearly hit other vehicles after having that happen a few times !..:eek:..

All in all though,I have had pretty good luck with V-belts,as long as I bought brand name good ones like Gates,Dayco,or Goodyear,or OEM ones..
Other "department store" cheapies like "Road King" (also made by Dayco),that stretched like rubber bands sucked..you were adjusting them every week until the flew off or snapped..no bargain!..
 
I like the reliability of serpentine, but I also like the ability of removing a single failure from the problem when it arises. Already dealt with situations in the past with the serpentine setup. Had a failed power steering pump bearing, couldn't drive it because,well, only one belt, wasn't able to bypass it.....Has an alternator failure, again, couldn't bypass it to at least get it off the freeway, still need that belt to run a water pump... idler pulleys fail.

I like that they're somewhat simple in design, but leave a few other issues to be dealt with.
 
Yeah,you cant borrow your girlfriend's nylons and tie them around the pulleys to limp home,when you have a serpentine belt setup !.:rolleyes:
 
One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is that the thin serpentine belt is easier to flex than the thick V-belt, so it wastes less energy as it travels around the pulleys. Not a big thing, but it's another point in favor of the newer setup.
 
ZooMad75 said:
Serp belt failures are pretty easy to prevent if you do check it out during your regular maintenance. If you have more than 10 cracks per inch in the ribbed side of the belt it's time to chuck it. If you aren't looking at the belt during your maintenance then you deserve the belt to fail. As far as the tensioner or idler pulley failures, again if you hear squeeling you better check it out. You'll have advanced warning of a problem there for sure. My favorite is when a customer's vehicle gets towed in due to a belt failure and when asked I get told "oh it just started making noise today and then all of the sudden everything quit." We look it over and the plastic idler pulley is still smoking 30 minutes later. No flipping way that bearing had not been signing like mad for some time.

Even with the impending doom of loosing ALL accessories when a serp belt fails, carry a spare. They take 5 minutes to change out. Again, if you were paying attention you shouldn't have a major failure like a idler or tensioner quitting without warning.

V-belts, bring the suck. Belts stretch and require adjustment periodically. They are very prone to flipping or throwing with high rpm if that adjustment isn't just right. Collateral damage is always possible. Meaning if the belt that is the farthest back fails the broken/tossed belt can fall in the way of another belt and take it off track. Replacing them takes a lot of time if you have to go after any of the many that one might have. The other issue is V-belts are going the way of the dinosaurs. GM dumped them in the late 80's and most other OEMS did the same thing at the same time for the most part. You can still get them, but it's getting harder for the oddball stuff.

I've got a stock Serp setup on my 5.3 and it's stone simple and reliable. I kept the serp setup on my 350 I kept from my 75. It will go on my 69 Nova when I swap the Vortec heads on it. That's even with it having 2 belts on it, one for the alt and another for the p/s pump. I'm over the issues I've had with it in the past.
Click to expand...

I agree with your points, and I'm also thoroughly done enjoying V-belts. But I once had a plastic idler pulley fail on me during a trip into the middle of nowhere (up North). I noticed that the belt was periodically squeaking (which serpentines shouldn't ever do), so I popped the hood and I could see the pulley wobbling around on its seized bearing. I tracked down a replacement before it had a time to completely fall off the bearing, but it was something that started suddenly. And someone who didn't actively listen for problematic noises probably wouldn't have noticed anything until the pulley was long gone. It wasn't something that provided advance warning like a typical wheel bearing failure.
 
campfire said:
I agree with your points, and I'm also thoroughly done enjoying V-belts. But I once had a plastic idler pulley fail on me during a trip into the middle of nowhere (up North). I noticed that the belt was periodically squeaking (which serpentines shouldn't ever do), so I popped the hood and I could see the pulley wobbling around on its seized bearing. I tracked down a replacement before it had a time to completely fall off the bearing, but it was something that started suddenly. And someone who didn't actively listen for problematic noises probably wouldn't have noticed anything until the pulley was long gone. It wasn't something that provided advance warning like a typical wheel bearing failure.
Click to expand...

Stuff don't break in predictable fashion all the time. You heard the noise at least and addressed it. Most lemmings that drive cars as an appliance won't hear that chirp going on unless they turn down the tunes or actually open a window at a drive through to get food to stuff their piehole. Those are the ones that get towed in to our shop with a belt snarled up around the front of the engine and a melted idler or tensioner.

An idler for my 5.3 is like under $20. Tensioner is around $40. You betcha I'll have one of each in my boonie box for the ride out to the desert. If the plan was to be closer to civilization, I could get them at any corner parts store. But I like being prepared.

Still comes down to the same basic thing: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In other words, keep up on your junk and it won't leave you high and dry.
 
I had my '90 making a noise much like a problem with the tensioner pulley. I checked and even changed it, same thing.
Well I should have dug deeper , 2 months later , the power steering pulley fell off, leaving just the hub on the pump!
Only 5 miles from the house, so not bad.

I figured that the rust on the pulley was due to its years back east , nope!
 
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