for no apparent reason...haven't done any work recently...my wife was driving it to work and called to say all of a sudden it was hard to steer. Fortunately she is car savvy enough to know stop and shut it off if there is an issue so it didn't overheat.
I didn't have time to do much analysis as I had to pick her up, bring her home to get another car and then I came to work. I did see the belt wrapped around fan but no apparent damage. Its parked in a spot where it should be safe till I can get to it.
Any thoughts on why it just came off??? I drove it earlier today and have been driving it everyday no issues. WTF????
When mine came off, it was due to the tension pulley bearing wore out. It canted sideways, and off came the belt. Fortunately for me, I had a new one with me and a new belt. Had bought those with the intention of replacing them before it left me broke down on the side of the road. Procrastination will get you, or it at least got me.
yeah I am beginning to wonder if I have a tensioner going bad...belt was good and tight...as I said been driving it everyday...guess I will look at it when I go to install the new belt
well got up this morning and drove over to where I had to leave the Jeep yesterday....got the old belt untangled from the fan, it was a bit chewed up but overall not bad, could be reused in an emergency. I spun all the pulleys and both tensioners no noise no slack at all when I tried to move them side to side, no damage to anything that I could see. Installed new belt and cranked it up for a few seconds. Rechecked the alignment and tension and started it again. Looked at each pulley for any signs of a wobble but saw nothing. Drove it home and rechecked tension etc. all good so I have no clue WTF caused that.
By any chance did you hold the new and olds belts side by side to compare length? Old belt may have been stretched by time. I don't know about your 99, but my 04 has marks on the tensioner and it's arm to show where they should be in relation to each other. Possible that a combination of a worn tensioner and a stretched belt gave it just enough slack to slip off of a pulley?
no the old one while in good shape was pretty twisted and I wasn't in the comparison mood in a parking lot...I don't have marks on the tensioner that I can see....its pretty much tighten until you get it right with just a bit of flex...I got in the habit of counting wrench turns when I loosen and then retighten....I can adjust as necessary but I know the count is close
guess I will keep an eye on it for a bit....and carry the tools
On my old cherokee when the belt came off, I noticed that the crank pulley was beginning to separate from the rubber, causing the outer belt surface of the pulley to walk forward away from the block.. Had to replace the crank pulley.
Have you looked at pullies to make sure the edges are not chipped or worn off?
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