Which is better a fan belt or a serpentine belt?
Which is better a fan belt or a serpentine belt?
The belt’s ability to provide a small degree of slippage when needed makes it a good match for accessories that shut on and off by the use of a clutch, such as air conditioner compressors and older style radiator cooling fans. A multi-groove, or ribbed, V-belt. The belt is flatter, thinner, more flexible, and builds up less heat.
Why are there grooves on both sides of the serpentine belt?
It may or may not have grooves on both sides. Instead of being specific to a single accessory, a serpentine belt is designed to wind around multiple pulleys – powering all of the vehicle’s pulley-driven accessories. Depending on design, both sides of the belt may provide friction.
How does a serpentine belt power an alternator?
As this picture illustrates, a single serpentine belt will typically power all externally mounted accessories. Idler pulleys help with proper routing of the belt. Unlike individual belts, tension on a serpentine belt is provided by a tensioner pulley which is under constant spring pressure.
What does the bottom of a fan belt look like?
Because of a tapering narrow shape at the bottom, these are known as “V belts”. An engine equipped with 3 separate accessory belts for cooling fan/generator, A/C compressor, and power steering pump.
What causes the serpentine belt to screech?
Serpentine belt noise means that a change in the belt’s operating conditions is causing the belt’s rubber to slip over one or more pulleys, making it screech — more on this in the What Causes Serpentine Belt Noise section below. More over, there’s the danger of the belt flying apart,…
What is the serpentine belt on a car called?
Most modern vehicles nowadays use what is called a serpentine belt, which came to replace the drive V-belts used on older vehicles. If you pop up the hood and stand if front of your car’s engine, you’ll see the serpentine belt winding around some pulleys.
What to do if your serpentine belt is overheating?
With a properly operating battery, you’ll have about 30 minutes to either get your vehicle to a safe place away from traffic, get home, or to a service station or shop. However, you only have that luxury if your serpentine belt doesn’t drive your water pump. If it does, your engine will start to overheat.
Is the water pump driven by the serpentine belt?
Another important device driven by the serpentine belt is the water pump. This is not always the case as on a lot of cars the water pump is driven by the timing belt. You should have this in mind so you don’t falsely “accuse” the serpentine belt for overheating.
