Serpentine Belt Replacement = more power

[buster]

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showthread.php?t=43949&highlight=serpentine

I replaced the serpentine belt on the Honda today. This is the 3rd belt. OEM was replaced around 80k. I'm at 166k miles currently.

Much to my surprise, the annoying "lag" I was getting during acceleration, which a friend of mine who had the same car confirmed, is gone! I had no idea a new belt could make that much of a difference in power.


I read this before I did the change today and I have noticed the exact same thing.
Quote:
I noticed a big change in the RPM and acceleration. RPM moves quite better than before and acceleration is a lot smoother.


I'll be doing the Mazda next.

 

[Chris142]

Huh?

 

[buster]

No idea, does anyone know how a slight hesitation/lag can be improved by replacing the serpentine belt? It's clearly noticeable. Acceleration is smoother. More power to the alternator?

The squeaking is gone too.

 

[KD0AXS]

I call placebo effect.

 

[bourne]

buster get Gatorback belts from Rockauto if they have it for your vehicle. They are awesome !

 

[buster]

It's not. Put it this way, some people claim to noticed improvements in acceleration when using FS cleaner or a different, lower viscosity oil. I'm more convinced of this than any oil change or fuel system cleaner that in the past may have improved performance a tad. I didn't change anything either prior to do the belt change. Same tank of gas, and the weather is identical.

I know it sounds ridiculous. Placebo is always a possibility but I do not believe that's the case here at all. Let's think about this, what could cause this? Is it possible? I don't know.

I used a Dayco. The 2nd belt was an OEM and it turned brown very quickly. I'm hoping this one keeps its color a bit longer.

 

[Mr Nice]

What's so special about Gatorback belt ?

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: buster
No idea, does anyone know how a slight hesitation/lag can be improved by replacing the serpentine belt? It's clearly noticeable. Acceleration is smoother. More power to the alternator?

The squeaking is gone too.


The squeaking may have been slippage at the alternator but i don't think that would change the performance.
What is the condition of the battery and its connections in this car?

On some cars there is a separate 12V cable for part of the system and the main cable for the starter at the battery connector.
If this connection was poor that might explain it. No idea just pulling things out of my backside.

 

[buster]

The battery is fairly new, maybe 2 years old if that.

 

[Turk]

I have noticed the same in my Saturn.

 

[Vikas]

Did you disconnect the battery while you did this service?

How many people have found that your car drives faster when it is freshly waxed?

 

[Donald]

+1 on being a non-believer in this case. Now if you ran with no belt and it ran better, that I could believe.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: bourne
buster get Gatorback belts from Rockauto if they have it for your vehicle. They are awesome !


I was getting some annoying sound, thought it was the tensioner. Turned out to be the gator back belt. Only had maybe 20,000 miles on it.

 

[buster]

Originally Posted By: Donald
+1 on being a non-believer in this case. Now if you ran with no belt and it ran better, that I could believe.


I don't blame you for thinking that, and I have no way to prove it, but I'm 100% convinced the lag is gone and the engine is more responsive. I'm not the only one that has noticed this from changing the serp belt.

Going in to this, my goal was to replace the belt because it was worn, had 80k miles on it and was squeaking pretty bad. The noticeable difference in power was completely unexpected and I still can't explain why I'm noticing it but I'm not the only one..........

I wasn't aware that replacing a serp belt could cause slight improvements in engine responsiveness.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
How many people have found that your car drives faster when it is freshly waxed?


That's only applicable to the half engine econoboxes, with a real engine it's a non-issue...

 

[buster]

Quote:
The stock i4 has a very weak battery/electrical system to begin with (you can barely roll up the windows without the lights dimming). When the serpentine belt slips, it causes the alternator to reduce amps outputted and the [censored] battery can't keep up. This in turn causes diminished spark at the plug which means a weaker detonation in the combustion chamber, hence your loss in power. A hotter spark = more power. Old belt also causes rough running because as the belt slips/catches the sparks increase and deacrease accordingly. If you put this on an oscilloscope, you'd see an erratic wave with heavy AC component.

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-57333.html

 

[chrome]

Most if not all modern cars will have ECU regulated alternators. If a belt does slip, and alternator voltage drops, the ECU will regulate and bring voltage back up.

For the voltage to drop so far that the ECU cannot compensate, you will need a serious amount of slippage on the belt. You will definitely notice the noise and smoke.

 

[buster]

Well, the belt had over 80k miles on it and was pretty worn. I believe the above paragraph I quoted is correct and that is what I'm noticing.

 

[Vikas]

If you disconnected the battery during the belt replacement, then you have reset the computer. This can certainly change the engine behavior, sometimes for better.

 

[buster]

I didn't.