Fan belt falling off

stmcmurray · Apr 30, 2015

Well, its happened twice now in the last few months. First, after I hit a big pothole in my friends driveway. Then again yesterday. I parked my car at work and everything was fine, then when I went to leave, it was off. A few years ago I replaced the tensioner to try and eliminate the squeak. I also noticed that it looked like it was slightly twisted, as in, not parallel with the rest of the pullys. After installing the new one, it looked the same, so I just thought that was the way it is. So, I dont know if its related, but thats a little history.
Anyone have any ideas?

Rearanger · May 1, 2015

I believe there's a tab in the tensioner that fits into a slot on the block. If you did not get the tab aligned it may be offsetting the tensioner.

willy · May 4, 2015

A bent pully could cause belt walking issues or bad idler pully my 5.0 had a bent powersteering pully caused by shotty junkyard pulling

stmcmurray · May 5, 2015

Thanks for the ideas. This is my second tensioner pulley. I thought my old one was bent, so I replaced it with a new one, and it looked the same as the original. Now it seems as the belt wears, its easier to walk off. Has anyone else with a 3.0 actually looked at their belt setup? I will get a picture of it if I can so you can see what Im talking about.

willy · May 5, 2015

Pictures help another thing to do is get some string and route it where the belt goes along the middle ribs if it falls in the same ribe all the way around then your alignment is good. If that checks out pull your spark plugs and turn the motor over with a bar and watch where it walks off which ever pully it falls off of is the one that needs replacing.

stmcmurray · May 8, 2015

Still havent got pictures yet. Another good idea, but Im afraid I dont need a string to tell me if its aligned or not, I can see it clear as day. And manually repeating it would be impossible. Its only done it twice in a few months and I drive an average of 100 miles a day.
Ill go take some pictures now.

willy · May 9, 2015

Only happing a few times in 1000 or so miles makes me think its a idler pully more than an accessory pully

Half Nuts · May 18, 2015

Swap the idler- mine used to slip off at the mere suggestion of moisture. I messed with everything before buying a new idler, which did the trick.

swifttony · May 19, 2015

It maybe due to worn tensioner, idler pulley or pulley alignment. Fan belt must be also be worn out.

Lone-Ranger · May 20, 2015

Did you ever replace the belt?

Bondo · Jun 3, 2015

Did you check in the little hole in the block for a broken off tab from the original tensioner?

stmcmurray · Jan 27, 2016

Thanks for all of the ideas. I totally forgot I started this thread, and only found it when I googled my problem again. Haha.
Lately it has got much worse, and I realized it happens when I go through puddles. I'm going to get a new tensioner and belt again, and double check that everything goes together correctly. I'll let you know what I find.
Thanks again

Fan belt falling off

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