Because car belts are made of rubber, they gradually become worn and harden because of friction with the pulley, the heat generated by its friction and elasticity by the engine torque change, and it will finally crack. If the following car belts break the following trouble may occur:
(1) Power Steering Belt  |
| Car Belts |
If the power steering belt breaks, the steering will suddenly become extremely heavy.
(2) Fan Belt
If fan belt breaks, the water pump will not operate and will result in engine overheating.
(3) Alternator Belt
If alternator belt breaks, the battery will be discharged.
(4) Air conditioner belt
If air conditioner belt breaks, the air conditioner will not operate.
(5) Vacuum pump belt
If vacuum pump belt breaks (diesel engines), the brake pedal will suddenly become stiff, making it extremely hard to apply brakes.check
How to Check Belts on a Car?
The car belts are check and replace if necessary every 12 months or every 20,000 km.
Step1. Visually check the condition of the belts. Check if there are wears and tears inside the belts.
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| Car Belt Appearance |
Step2. Visually check if the belts sag. Push the central part of the car belts with your finger and check if the belt is sagging, adjust if belt deflections are too small or too large. If necessary, replace with a new one.
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| Belt Tension Checking |
If tension is weak, the belt will slip against the pulley, and power transfer will become lower. This means, in case of a fan belt, cooling power will decrease and in case of the alternator belt, generation power will decrease and battery charge level will decrease. This can be easily noticed as sharp squeaking noise will be generated when racing engine. On the other hand, excessive tension leads to the short life of alternator bearing, water pump bearing or crankshaft main bearing.
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