A - New belt; B - Wall wear - ribs are pointed (on new belts they are trapezoidal); C - Cord exposure; D - Cracks on the back of the belt; E - Detachment of rubber from the base; F - Wear of the outer cord; G - Rupture of the side cord; H - Cracks across the ribs; J - Damage to the ribs; K - Cracks of individual ribs; L - Pollution or stones stuck between the ribs; M - Tearing rubber on the ribs
When installing the drive belt, place it correctly on the pulleys (right in the center). Even short-term operation of an incorrectly installed belt can damage it!
1. Schemes for laying the belt of the serpentine drive of auxiliary units are presented in Section Replacement of the auxiliary drive belt and elements of its tensioning mechanism.
2. Fingers (using a flashlight if needed) walk along the entire length of the belt, feeling for cracks and delaminations. Also check the belt for scuffs and polished areas. The belt must be inspected from both sides, which means that it must be twisted to check the condition of the wrong side. Along the way, check for rust, cracks and burrs on the pulleys. On the working surface of the belt, the presence of shallow perpendicular cracks is allowed. If these cracks do not go beyond the boundaries of one rib and are not very deep, there is no need to replace the belt.
3. The tension of the drive belt is adjusted automatically. It is necessary to periodically check the condition of the belt, and if defects are found, replace the belt.
4. The belt tension is carried out by an automatic tensioner and does not need to be checked.
5. Turn off the engine, put the transmission in neutral. Raise and place the car on stands.
6. Mark the belt with chalk in a clearly visible place.
7. Using a socket wrench, turn the engine at the crankshaft pulley bolt in the direction of normal rotation (clockwise) until the chalk marking reappears, - carefully examine the condition of the belt tape along its entire length.
8. Belt tension can be checked by pressing firmly on the belt with your thumb and determining the degree of deflection. Measure the deflection with a ruler. With a distance between the centers of the pulleys from 180 to 280 mm belt deflection should be 6 mm. If the distance between the centers of the pulleys is between 300 and 400 mm, the deflection should be 13 mm.
9. If one or more of the indicated damages are present, the belt must be replaced (see chapter Engine).
10. Make sure the belt is properly seated on the pulleys.