serpentine belt 2000 Caravan 3.8L

The serpentine belt just came off the pulleys on my wife's 200 Caravan
3.8L. The belt is not broken and the idlers/tensioners/pulleys all
appear to be OK. My wife was driving home in rain/snow and I have
heard of belts coming off in wet conditions like this. The belt has
never come off before and she's had this car for several years and in
similar weather conditions. Is the wet condition a reasonable
diagnosis for this problem and is there something I need to do to
prevent this in the future?

The ribs on the belt do show some cracks and I'm guessing it makes
sense to replace the belt as long as I have to restring it.

Thanks for any advice!


John Keith

 

Keith, unless you know exactly what to look for as far as the tensioner goes
I would replace the belt and tensioner together. When the tensioner starts
to wear it will tilt at an angle and may cause a squeak.
When water hits the belt it will cause the belt to just slide right off
without warning. You don't say what the mileage, but if it is the original
tensioner I would replace it.

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

Glenn,

There has been no squeaking but the mileage is over 88K. I suppose
I'll do the tensioner also as long as I'm digging around this area.

Thanks for the quick reply.


John Keith

 

Both Goodyear as well as Gates currently offer a field fix kit for the
3.0L engine. Sometime this year they will be offering a field fix kit
for your 3.8L. I recommend to wait and get this kit. It is the only
solution that actually works.

 

It seems like there was a recall for the splash shield that protects
the belt path. Do you recall Glenn?

-KM

 

did you actually try to rotate the tensioner? Mine locked up. looked
fine but would not rotate, that is pivot along the tensioner arm. had
to be replaced.

 

The original tensioner arm would swing (after finding the right
combination of tools and with great effort.)


John Keith

 

Why isn't Chrysler fixing this rather than Gate and Goodyear?

How do I follow-up on this, check with a Chrysler dealer?

None of the replies explicitly state that water is a contributing
factor but it seems that this is the case.

Thanks everyone for sharing the knowledge.

John Keith

 

Not sure.

[/QUOTE]

Don't go to the dealer. Check with Napa or an aftermarket distributor
of either Goodyear or Gates belt tensioners. If you want to go online,
try contacting
http://midwayautosupply.com/c-261-professional-tools.aspx however I
have heard that they are bad at responding to their emails.
factor but it seems that this is the case.

Water is definetly a contributing factor to this problem.

 

You're getting good advice, but I would add the water pump to the list
of things to look at. I had a 3.3 engine Caravan a few years ago that
threw the belt off because the water pump pulley was wobbly. Believe it
or not, it didn't leak. It just threw the belt off. We also had a 96
Caravan that started throwing the belt when driving through puddles. I
changed the belt and it improved the situation.

 

There was a TSB to install a shield, I have never installed one because the
tensioner is what caused the belts to come off

 

Normally what causes the pump bearings to go bad and wobble like that is the
belt tensioner has seized. the tensioner is designed to give from the torque
of the belt. If the tensioner is seized the belt will transfer all the pull
to the water pump and cause it to fail. Most shops don't pick that up and
the vehicle returns shortly with another pump failure or the tensioner has
just completely snapped off.

Glenn

 

Wow, I guess I got lucky on that van. I replaced the pump and continued
to drive it for another 50,000 miles or so with no problems. I've
learned a lot about these minivans from you guys on the group. It's
just ironic that a lot of it applies to vans that I sold several years
ago. I wish I had had all of this information at the time.

 

Yes, the discussion has been great and very helpful. Thanks everyone.

Whoa! That had to be a disturbing situation.



John Keith

 

It was a 3.0 liter. Different engine, same problem. I have a friend
with a 94, 3.3 liter, that threw its belt when wet. I don't think he
changed the tensioner, just the belt. I'd listen to the guys on this
group if I were you, though.

 

And get an OEM belt and tensioner or you'll be doing this job sooner than
you want!

 

The spring on my tensioner broke. A 97 T&C with a 3.8.

Don't know why. I started making noise, I took it in, and the guy said
the spring was broke. Never had a belt fail, btw. 242k miles. Have
replaced it maybe once? Was making some noise, and had a few cracks
and a glaziness (new word) to it.

 

also make sure that the drain tube for the wiper cowl/module is hooked to
the drain tube on right side or water pours on belt causing it top slip
off also rechack the ac compressor pulley and clutch operatiion