Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffreyNMemphis
My recent experience has been that a failed pulley or belt tensioner is usually the cause of shredded serpentine belt. It is a good part of the maintenance plan to inspect belt. I would not have thought about checking the pulleys until recent experience.
It might be a good idea to check starting at 90,000 miles as suggested above. Looking at them would show stress cracks in plastic. Removing the belt and spinning each pulley and belt tensioner by hand will give a feel for the bearings. The only way to know the condition of items that are known to fail is to check and test.
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The only fly in the ointment is that the stress cracks seem to develop on the obverse side of the idler pulley, which means you have to remove it to inspect it (it will still pass free play and spin tests). That's not an awful chore on the M112 in certain chassis (indeed, I changed that pulley in my car in less than five minutes, and I didn't even have to remove the belt), but on some it's a painful process. Besides, for $20 every 90-100K miles, just change it.
