What might be a symptom of an accessory belt that had broken?
Symptoms of a broken serpentine belt include loud slapping, squealing or knocking noises coming from under the hood. The battery-shaped charging system warning light might also come on because the alternator will stop charging the battery.
Can you drive with a broken accessory belt?
The short answer is yes, your car will start even if the serpentine belt is broken or missing. However, you do need your serpentine belt if you want the car to run for longer than a few minutes.
What does an accessory belt do?
Accessory belts are used to drive the air-conditioning compressor, power steering pump, water pump and the alternator. In more modern cars one or two belts – known as the serpentine belt because of the way they twist around multiple pulleys – do all of these jobs.
How often should accessory belts be checked?
On many GM vehicles, the first recommended inspection is at 150,000 miles or 10 years. Though these belts often last many years, they can become cracked or frayed and need to be replaced. These common signs of wear are why they should be inspected at least annually on vehicles that are more than a few years old.
How do you know when to change your accessory belt?
Under ideal circumstances, your car’s serpentine belt should last 60,000–100,000 miles. It’s important to replace this belt as part of your vehicle’s scheduled maintenance (even if it looks okay) to avoid it breaking while you’re on the road.
What happens if you have a broken fan belt?
Your fan belt provides power to vital systems in your engine so a broken or worn belt will affect multiple functions. If engine accessories that are driven by the fan belt are not able to spin at the correct speed your entire electrical system can lose power. You might also lose power steering which will make the wheel suddenly harder to turn.
What do you call the fan belt on a car?
The number of belts your engine has and the configuration of them will depend on the make, model and year but generally, when we speak about the fan belt, we are referring to the drive belt or alternator belt (usually a serpentine belt in modern vehicles).
Why is my serpentine belt on my air conditioner not working?
Since the serpentine belt keeps the air conditioner functional, a bad serpentine belt will take that function away from it. If you turn on your air conditioner and see that it does not blow out cool air from the air vents, this could possibly be due to a bad serpentine belt.
Why do I need to check my fan belt?
All of those pulleys need belts to transfer the energy from the crank pulley, and those belts wear out with all of their spinning, heating, cooling, stretching, and shrinking. It’s important to inspect your belts every season to be sure you don’t have any worn, frayed, or stretched belts.