Serpentine Belt
 

how many miles till you should change it out?

Greetings,
On page 396 in my owner’s manual it says to "Inspect Engine Accessory Drive Belt" at 150,000 miles. And on page 398 is the footnote stating "Visually Inspect Belt for Fraying, Excessive Cracks, or Obvious Damage - Replace Belt if Necessary". But I inspect my drive belt every time I get the oil changed. I currently have around 51,500 miles on mine and/or when I think it is starting to look bad or deteriorating - its getting changed regardless of how many or few miles are on it.

Since belts are inexpensive, I change them after a few years (2-3) depending upon mileage. I look for excessive cracking on the inside groove area of the belt (some cracking is normal). I also inspect for signs of slippage by twisting the belt and viewing with a trouble light. Any shiney appearance or fraying and the belt gets changed.

Better safe then sorry or broke down on the side of the highway because the belt broke.

One thing to remember about the serpentine belt on an HHR (at least on mine) is that it only runs the alternator and a/c compressor. Luckily it does not run any of the major engine components, water pump, or power steering. So if it does snap you can at least drive a short distance without irreparable damage to the engine. At least that is what I understood my dealer mechanic to say. But when in doubt the smartest thing is to get it replaced.

Tigger- or anyone I would be curious to learn how the water pump is driven then ?


One thing I do when changing a sepentine belt, is save it somewhere in the vehicle..

Never know it just be needed some time to make it back home..

Sleeper, the water pump is driven by a chain off the crank, FYI.

Thanks Joe-

Hope that never goes bad then...

It also makes a good oil filter wrench (for canister type, not the Ecotec).

Serpentine Belts are designed to last about 100K miles. I start taking a hard look at them around 85K. Something to consider: After you replace the belt, check the tension on the belt after 10K. Sometimes they need to be tweaked after they have a little bit of a run.

Chevy Manager, you wanna' jump in on this thread?? You usually have some excellent advice and I'm sure you've seen some belt changes on HHRs by now.

I'm guessing at this BUT, doesn't the serpentine belt have an automatic belt tensioner:confused:. So how would you "tweak" it?