How often should a serpentine belt be changed?
 

My mechanic will probably have to take the serpentine belt off to do a repair. I guess the belt is a year old, and has 12,000 miles on it. How often should those be changed?

1991 300d 179k

Change the belt when it gets cracks or damage, or when the Vs turn into | |'s

-J

Answer
 

100K +/- miles is a good number.

X2
100k is often recomended by the car manufactures & belt manufactures.
Keep the old belt as a spare in the car. Best not to keep a new one as a spare as they deteriorate over time where they are bent & often fail reasonably soon after being installed if they have been left in the trunk for a few years.

THIS!

I think a one year old belt with 12,000 miles on it would have a lot of life left in it and would make sense to re-use.

I know
 

The day before this happens:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/2974916-post112.html

I had one go a lot sooner than 100k miles on my W210. If they are taking belt off for other reasons, then it should be cost of part to replace. And as others have said, old one could be an emergency spare.

Our W210 belt broke while driving on an elevated expressway with no place to pull off. Temperature was skyrocketing and I had no power steering or battery charging. I turned the heater on (car has electric pump for heater) and this kept temperature somewaht in control until we exited expressway. Luckily it was near our condo. Had to get AAA to tow to dealer for repair. Not a great experience!

BTW, I believe newer belts are better - maybe have Kevlar reinforcing or???

100K or every 3 years--Whichever is sooner.....

If you replace the belt while it is still good, regardless of miles, you can put it away as a spare, as others have written. If you're capable of doing your own maintenance (Some of us aren't, that's no crime), replace the belt yourself, then you'll know how. It's a lot easier to do something for the first time at home with all your tools and manuals than out on the road in the rain or snow. Even if a mechanic ends up doing the job on the road, you won't have to go looking for a replacement belt and you'll be able to show him how it goes on.

Jeremy