unusual drive belt wear
#1
04-17-2009 | 08:14 AM
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unusual drive belt wear
04 CRV, 60k mi, drive belt is damaged by abrasion on smooth side (opposite side from the ribs). The rib side of the belt is in good condition, no cracks etc. Inspection as to the cause of the premature failure looks to be the tensioner pulley. It appears to have a black substance on it that I'm guessing is some type of friction material that keeps the pulley in contact with belt and so doesn't allow slippage and heat buildup.
Inspected other CRVs and they all have the same black spotty roughness, except that it is not quite so rough as mine. Is this substance a compromise by the engineers between adverse slippage on the one hand and wear of the belt on the other?
Mechanic shrugged it off as " maybe a bad batch of belts", but I'm thinking that that friction substance is too rough and it is going to repeatedly wear every single new belt I put on. I'm wanting to take pulley off for close inspection and maybe smoothing the roughness off or replacing the pulley. Or should I go with the mechanic and just keep putting on belts at $75 a pop every 60k mi? Those belts should go quite a bit longer I'm told by others.
Anybody seen the likes of this problem?
tom r.
Inspected other CRVs and they all have the same black spotty roughness, except that it is not quite so rough as mine. Is this substance a compromise by the engineers between adverse slippage on the one hand and wear of the belt on the other?
Mechanic shrugged it off as " maybe a bad batch of belts", but I'm thinking that that friction substance is too rough and it is going to repeatedly wear every single new belt I put on. I'm wanting to take pulley off for close inspection and maybe smoothing the roughness off or replacing the pulley. Or should I go with the mechanic and just keep putting on belts at $75 a pop every 60k mi? Those belts should go quite a bit longer I'm told by others.
Anybody seen the likes of this problem?
tom r.
#2
04-24-2009 | 02:38 PM
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UPDATE: drive belt wear
I decided I wanted the auto tensioner pulley removed for inspection because many local, inspected, used CRVs were showing an abrasive spotty black substance on the hard-to-see tensioner pulley.
The mechanics reported that the paint on my pulley had seemingly degraded under engine compartment heat and friction with the drive belt, then had somehow cystallized into a hard, rough, fractured substance that had some sharp points on it right along the central portion of the pulley surface. The belt, at several thousand rpms, was indeed being eaten aliveand severely grooved by the paint remnant roughness on the pulley! They removed the pulley and filed and/or wire brushed it with a power drill til clean and smooth.
A new belt is no longer showing faint signs of abrasive premature wear, but not enough miles have accumulated to be 100% certain that problem is solved.
The mechanics reported that the paint on my pulley had seemingly degraded under engine compartment heat and friction with the drive belt, then had somehow cystallized into a hard, rough, fractured substance that had some sharp points on it right along the central portion of the pulley surface. The belt, at several thousand rpms, was indeed being eaten aliveand severely grooved by the paint remnant roughness on the pulley! They removed the pulley and filed and/or wire brushed it with a power drill til clean and smooth.
A new belt is no longer showing faint signs of abrasive premature wear, but not enough miles have accumulated to be 100% certain that problem is solved.
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