AUX DRIVE BELT

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

after seeing the dodgy,oily stinkin aux drive belt on the fiesta ,i had a look on mine on r19 as well . its dry as a bone but noticed a few cracks in the inner side. and could not be so sure about the condition
so its always better to ask ,do they snap ? what happens if the aux drive belt snaps ? any damage to the engine ,alternator etc?
can the car be still drivable for a while ?
is it easy to change it for an amateur ?
wanted to take photos too but its a very tight angle and its too dark where the cracks are .
cheers

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

depends how bad the cracks are. Not hard to change though, just de tension the alternator and off it comes (on a valver, cant remember what engine you have).

If it goes though you will of course lose alternator, power steering and more importantly water pump (again, valver), so it wont run for long.

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

mines covered in cracks im not too worried...will change it next time i am in that area...

Level 6 User Joined: 20 Jun 2004 Posts: 155

Wow you gotta be careful with the aux belt on valvers by the sounds of it - never realised it drove the water pump on those cars.

On an Energy its dead simple to change, cause its just the crank pulley and the alt on the aux belt, which also means you can keep driving without it until the battery goes flat Smile

I know cause my mum tried it once lol When the headlights went too dim to see with she decided it was time to stop and call the AA! Laughing

I think she drove about 25-30 miles on the motorway after the belt snapped.

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

mine is a 1.8 rt 8v single point inj.
is the belt meant to be bone dry though ?
i know it runs the power steering ,water pump,alternator but does it damage all these stuff when it snaps or is it just the aux drive belt that has to be changed after ?

Level 6 User Joined: 20 Jun 2004 Posts: 155

It sholdn't damage anything unless you are unlucky - it should just fly off under the car and down the road. Of course, if you run the car for much time with no water pump, it will do some serious damage.

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

yes the belt is meant to be bone dry.

it doesnt come with any lubricant on it when you buy it, you dont lubricate it when you install it, and unless your engine is pissing oil, in theory theres no way for it to get lubricated. So i think we can assume that Renault dont want it lubricated Smile

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

yes its dry.

They do tend to crack but the cracks do not mean its just going to snap. Mine is cracked maybe even the original belt, I will replace it at some point.

If it snaps then yes it can do a great amount of damage.

If it snaps then the alt doesn't charge, PS pump stops pumping and the water pump stops. Now if your on the motorway at normal temp and the belt goes then you have a very short space of time to shut the engine down to prevent it overheating badly.

If it snaps it can also wrap around the pulley and snap the cambelt, sen it happen a million times and it makes it a big job.

On the energys the cambelt drives the water pump, the aux belt(s) drive the alt at the back and the newer ones drive the ps pump and if fitted the AC, so they can both snapp and you will be ok unless it wraps itself round the cam pulley which is less likely to happens as its a V belt instead of a serpentine.

Its an easy change.

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

everyone rushes to change their aux belts at this point

Site Subscriber Joined: 10 Jun 2004 Posts: 2317

Not me, mine are both fairly new Wink

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

i hope it can wait till summer cause i wont be arsed to change it till then

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

it can wait... Smile