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VS serpentine belt slipping

feral_chick

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okies here we go with some brief history, but the other week i was driving along our country road and supposedly hit a pot hole in the road (thou not 100% sure on that theory yet), not long after my steering became very very hard to turn, thinking i had a flat tyre i pulled over to check all tyres but alas they were all fine so took off again, but the hard steering was concerning me so i pulled over to the side of the road for the second time and looked under the bonnet this time to find my serpentine belt was completely gone! ok thats fine got the spare one on which seemed a little loose (it was an old one from another commy) and had some strange bearing noise coming from under the hood and with what seemed to me like looser steering as well. so today got a brand new serpentine belt put on and bearing noise is gone thank god lol i havnt driven it yet to see if the loose steering has gone as well, but the belt is slipping towards the radiator just a touch not by much but enough for the hubby to think that it (the tensioner pulley) needs replacing! would this be the case or does anyone have any ideas on what may be causing it to slip! and most importantly question will it still be safe to drive? thanks in advance :)
 

Wombles

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Remove the belt again and inspect all pulley bearings. Check for loosness and noise.
Did you make sure the belt was on the correct way? Also check all bolts holding the pulleys on.
Sounds like somethings not aligned properly.
 

feral_chick

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well there is one bolt missing out of the power steering pulley could this cause it ?
 

Wombles

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How many hold that one on. I dont recall. How loose are the others?
 

feral_chick

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4 bolts hold it in place but 1 is missing all 3 other bolts are on tight
 

Cheap6

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Remove the belt again and inspect all pulley bearings. Check for loosness and noise.
Did you make sure the belt was on the correct way? Also check all bolts holding the pulleys on.
Sounds like somethings not aligned properly.

This is what I'd be looking at too. If the bearing is shot or a pulley loose the belt will walk on the pulley.

Three bolts on the power steering pulley will hold it but it can't be that hard (and zero cost) to find a replacement from a wrecker.
 

Brett_jjj

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Also start the engine with the belt removed, (its ok to do this for a minute or two) and have a good look at the balancer, (the biggest pulley right at the bottom) and make sure theres no movement or wobble to it as it spins. If it wobbles etc, it will need replacing. These balancers wear out with age and use etc, the bonded rubber part perishes and they start to wobble.
 
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