Serpentine belt came off. Tensioner failed ?

[Coltonreece]

Okay so I was just driving and I noticed my power steering stopped working, I pulled over and my serpentine belt had came off, I inspected everything and saw that my clutch fan was rubbing on my tensioner pulley bolt. It’s very misaligned, and seems to be pushed down causing the idler pulley to seize up a little. Is this just a bad tensioner pulley ? Why would it randomly break and get thrown out of line ? I made it back home (a 10 min drive) any help is appreciated thank you guys

 

[IDIBRONCO]

It sounds like the tensioner itself is bad to me. When they go bad, they will let the pulley move toward the radiator which will cause the belt to come off since it's no longer properly aligned.

 

[Coltonreece]

It sounds like the tensioner itself is bad to me. When they go bad, they will let the pulley move toward the radiator which will cause the belt to come off since it's no longer properly aligned.

Is is pretty easy replacement ? It is moved in toward the radiator, chewed my clutch fan up a little bit. I’m worried on the drive home it might of got a lil hot. It was only about 5 miles but when I got home coolant was leaking and the hoses for coolant were completely in a vacuum and compressed in. Is that because too much pressure from heat and no circulation?

 

[Clb]

There's 2 styles closed and open.
There's 1 for serpentine belts with a shock and 1 without
Do check the little locating stud/***/boss that keeps it from rotating.
If you turn it the wrong way, it snaps off...

Sounds like it may have overheat issues..
Check oil and coolant for the next 100 miles the first 25 if it's pulling heavy should be enough.
Yes it's a easier part to replace, do ask the rotation to remove the center axle fastener or you can snap that aforementioned stud off.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

It's been years since I've messed with one of those. I don't remember it being too difficult of a part to replace.
At a guess, I'd say that the no circulation was the main culprit. The coolant was probably coming from the overflow reservoir. I will also guess that the hoses being in a vacuum was from the coolant being pushed out of the engine and into the overflow.

 

[IDIBOBS]

Why I dont like serp belts

 

[KansasIDI]

Why I dont like serp belts

I agree, tensioners can be a pain. V belts are simpler, but a properly working serpentine system is pretty nice. I don’t regret swapping to serpentine on my 91, but I probably wouldn’t do it again. Had a difficult time with tensioners, one brand new from Ford was several thousandths out of true when under tension, at first I didn’t think that was my issue, but after replacing it with a new Napa one the issues have not resurfaced. @Coltonreece, the tensioner is technically a wear item, supposed to be replaced with belt every 60k miles I believe.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

supposed to be replaced with belt every 60k miles I believe.

That's one that I hadn't heard before, but it does make sense.

 

[Old Goat]

KansasIDI said:
supposed to be replaced with belt every 60k miles I believe.

Till the supply is used up.....
V Belts rule...

When you lose the Rubber Band, everything shuts down.


Goat

 

[Coltonreece]

Thank you guys, anyone have a part number ? I heard they’re kinda a pain to find

 

[Coltonreece]

Any ideas to rig something up just to keep it running for now ? It’s my daily and I’m really messed up by this I need to make it to work

 

[Black dawg]

v belts rarely fail without taking others with them. In theory, you could just keep driving depending on which belt is lost, but it almost never works that way. If a belt it going to have issues on these trucks, it will be the alt belt, and it is really good at getting in behind the water pump pulley.

Ford went to serp belts and stayed with them for many reasons.

 

[KansasIDI]

v belts rarely fail without taking others with them. In theory, you could just keep driving depending on which belt is lost, but it almost never works that way. If a belt it going to have issues on these trucks, it will be the alt belt, and it is really good at getting in behind the water pump pulley.

Ford went to serp belts and stayed with them for many reasons. Doubt you are smarter than ford.....lol....

There’s definitely a reason why all manufacturers use serpentine belts now… emphasis on, properly working, they are smooth, quiet, lower maintenance, and tend to last quite a while longer. Absolute pain if there is issues with the system.

 

[kbenz]

Why I dont like serp belts

I like my serp belts. only 2 things to go wrong. broken belt or tensioner. once you change out can pretty much forget about it. no more loose belts

 

[Nero]

I also like how low the ac comprssor sits, and the vac pump is right on top.
If v belts were so good, why did Ford redesign such a perfect example of engineering?