i need some advice on why my moms 99 dodge caravan keeps throwing off or shredding serpentine belts. first belt shredded completely after 600 miles.. thank God we got home from canada before it went... second one shreded half way thrugh after 2000 miles. the third just flew off after a few weeks. what could cause this? is there anything in particular to look for? the pulleys seem good. bearings turn smoothly. the only thing i can think of is the tensioner. i just dont want to replace it unless its neccesary. any tips on how to check the tensioner greatly appreciated

Most likey has to be a pully out of alignment.

I had the same thing happen on my 91 454 Suburban.
On the advice of my friend who is a mechanic at our local Chevrolet dealership and after fighting with it and going through 3 belts I had to buy a new bracket that bolts to the front of the engine even though it looked ok to me.

:confused:

Same thing happened to my friend's '91 Cherokee. It looks like the idler pulley was slightly out of whack, letting the belt be off a groove when it got to the crank. The timing pointer shaved off one groove of the belt at a time, until there was only one rib of the belt left. Since he was too cheap to get it fixed, that car is off the road at the moment. Looks like he's walking to work smile.gif . If you're doing the work yourself, when you have the belt off, check all the pulleys, idlers and tensioners for any kind of free play. Can you see what the belt is rubbing against? If so, take a real close look at the pulley before that. In my friends case, the belt was fine on all the accessories until it got to the crank. Once it hit the crank, it was off. That's why I was suspecting the idler pulley (last thing the belt touched before the crank). Good luck with your problem!

One of the brackets could also have lossened up over time. When the motor is off everything may look ok. I suggest looking at the belt when the motor is running. See if it is shaking or anything is flexing. Just be careful.

Later
Steve

Rad,
One way to check the tensioner is to remove the belt and check the complete range(movement)and verify that is returning.I have a few 94 Dodge vans in my fleet and replacing the tensioner is not uncommon.The (internal)spring should return it to its stop on its own.Also while the engine is running with the belt on,it should remain steady

Bob Adamsky

thanks everyone graemlins/beers.gif !! after looking at it closer the belt tensioner looks like its a little too far to the left. the part where the tensioner arm attaches to the base and has the spring inside has a very big gap... it has full range of motion.. the spring is preety tight..all bearings are good.. no play in anything. just looks too far over th the side.