Today I had the serpentine belt replaced on my '00 Aero. Yesterday I heard a rap coming from the engine bay. Scary at first, but eventually I figured out that my serp belt was in the process of falling apart - 20% of the width had broken and was slapping against the engine as it rotated.

Needing to get home, I pulled out an razor blade and simply cut off enough of the broken portion - enough so it wouldn't slap around (generating heat, etc) and drove the car straight to a nearby SAAB indie. (I know I'm probably lucky I arrived without it failing)

Anyway, I replaced the belt, keeping the long-belt setup, and the two idler pulleys. For what it's worth, the belt and the grooved idler pulley were last replaced at 53K miles. The vehicle currently has 108K miles, so the belt only lasted 54K miles before failure. I don't have the new parts to compare to, but I do have the old pulleys. Although the grooved pulley rotates around it's center, it definitely doesn't spin as I would expected something with bears to. It doesn't spin anywhere near as much as the replaced smooth pulley.

The shop did have a hard time finding a long belt for the vehicle. They initially installed the short-belt when the local dealership accidentally sent over the wrong part (I explicitly asked for the long-belt). After finding out they converted me to the short-belt setup, I asked they find a long belt (which they did) and do the job as I asked. I hope my request wasn't unnecessary, but I had concerns after reading comments here about excess vibrations during idling, following the short-belt conversion.

For reference, the belt + two idler pulleys cost me $373.

KevinH
'00 Aero, 108K

posted by 76.111.3...

• Serpentine Belt didn't 't last 60K, KevinH, Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:29:21 <-- Viewing This Message
  • Re: Serpentine Belt didn't 't last 60K, SWEDECAR , Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:01:14
    • Short belt = less friction?, RMinNJ, Sat, 28 Jul 2007 18:36:02
      • Re: Short belt = less friction?, Boomer, Sat, 28 Jul 2007 20:06:53
  • Hmmm. Makes me think I should, Noel, Sat, 28 Jul 2007 08:51:41
    • From my 60K service I paid ..., KevinH, Tue, 31 Jul 2007 05:16:10
  • Also..., Stephen Goldberger, Sat, 28 Jul 2007 07:29:18
  • Mine cracked @ 28k miles, AeroTim, Sat, 28 Jul 2007 07:28:21
  • Many different belts, Stephen Goldberger, Sat, 28 Jul 2007 07:26:39
  • Re: Serpentine Belt didn't 't last 60K, bobc , Sat, 28 Jul 2007 06:03:59

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