Diagnosing serpentine belt

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As a follow up to me spilling coolant on my serpentine belt on my 2002 Buick Century I was in there pouring some more water while I was running the engine and used a little simple green trying to get it clean and when I was slowly pouring water on my belt it actually completely stopped turning for about 5-10 seconds after I stopped pouring the water but then started to go again eventually. I was able to duplicate the issue every time I poured water into it while running it stopped the belt again.

I'm trying to figure out if it's normal for a serpentine belt to slip and stop turning when it's really wet or if I should just start throwing parts at it like a new belt and pulley.

Previously to me spilling the coolant on the belt I didn't have any issues but now sometimes I notice it's slipping even when I'm driving and not wet from a stop because the power steering has stopped working a few times for a split second until you get above idle.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
As a follow up to me spilling coolant on my serpentine belt on my 2002 Buick Century I was in there pouring some more water while I was running the engine and used a little simple green trying to get it clean and when I was slowly pouring water on my belt it actually completely stopped turning for about 5-10 seconds after I stopped pouring the water but then started to go again eventually. I was able to duplicate the issue every time I poured water into it while running it stopped the belt again.

I'm trying to figure out if it's normal for a serpentine belt to slip and stop turning when it's really wet or if I should just start throwing parts at it like a new belt and pulley.

Previously to me spilling the coolant on the belt I didn't have any issues but now sometimes I notice it's slipping even when I'm driving and not wet from a stop because the power steering has stopped working a few times for a split second until you get above idle.



the water would've caused it to slip and more slippage = heat = wear (in my opinion).. I'd probably just replace the serpentine belt with another one. Who knows how contaminated it really got. best to not worry about it and replace it.

I got my recent serpentine belt from rockauto, got a gates brand, excellent so far.. and not expensive!!
 
Why would you be cleaning it with it running?

Regardless I think you need a new belt now if you didnt before.
 
I don't think getting it wet would cause it to stop. I've had my Liberty up to the hood in water with nary an issue. I think you might want to replace the belt, and idler pullies (or if you can get a tensioner with the pullies on it, do that).
 
I'm guessing by looking at the tensioner that it's extended to its max range and the belt is stretched so it's contributing to the slipping.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
I'm guessing by looking at the tensioner that it's extended to its max range and the belt is stretched so it's contributing to the slipping.


It's worth checking if the tensioner is at its limit, but belts don't stretch significantly. It's been decades since that's been a problem. If the belt is too long, the wrong belt was installed.
 
I don't see how pouring water on a belt would stop it from turning. Are you saying the pulleys were turning but the belt stayed still ?
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I don't see how pouring water on a belt would stop it from turning. Are you saying the pulleys were turning but the belt stayed still ?


Yes the crank pulley was turning but everything else stopped including the belt
 
I just tried to duplicate the problem and pouring water on the running belt didn't cause it to stop.

I think maybe the simple green was causing it to slip, but I was trying to clean both sides of the belt just now while it was at idle
with an old cloth and I noticed when I pushed down in the water pump pulley at first with the cloth I could cause it to stop rotating if I pressed hard enough, but after a few passes with the cloth and cleaning the face of the pulley and both sides of the belt, I got lots of black gunk off the belt and I can't cause the water pump to stop with the cloth anymore, so maybe it was just dirty?

I need a few dry days to see what happens, but I think I might be fighting another issue, I have a hunch that the water pump is slowly leaking coolant onto the belt, but I need everything to dry up so I can make sure there's no leaks, because I did just replace the radiator and don't know if everything's good yet.
 
For the past few months before I replaced the radiator I have been adding Distilled water only waiting to have time to replace the radiator, but I'm guessing the entire time the radiator was leaking the water pump was leaking too, well as soon as I put the new radiator in and filled it with real coolant, the water leaking on the belt now became a coolant mixture, so I think I need to replace the water pump for sure.
 
It could be the original one then unless you have invoices/records that prove otherwise. You can get a decent belt for around $25. Add $40 for labor if you don't install it yourself. Any cracks on either side of it?

edit: This may help as well.

Originally Posted By: Trav
All the major players are good but as critic said its about fit some are not quite on the money. stay away from their second tier offerings like Drive works (Dayco) the quality drops off noticeably.
Bando and Mitsuboshi (not Mitsubishi) are my favorite belts for Asian cars, the Dayco W belt and ACDelco fits German and US cars well, NAPA, Conti and Gates are good belts but the sizing seems to be all over the place.
Kind of a blanket statement but they seem to either fit perfectly or are an absolute bugger to get on or a little loose depending on the make and model.
Just my personal experience.
 
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If you do need a water pump, it's about the easiest one possible to replace. I have done one in a 99 century and 4 of them in an 03' Rendezvous.

Don't buy one from Auto Zone, they're total trash. I kept using the lifetime warranty.
 
Yea I'm looking at a new belt on Rockauto, not sure which brand but the Hitachi water pump is the actual oe part and cheap. Although I really need to get it fixed soon, so I might try Napa or advance for the parts.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Yea I'm looking at a new belt on Rockauto, not sure which brand but the Hitachi water pump is the actual oe part and cheap. Although I really need to get it fixed soon, so I might try Napa or advance for the parts.


Looking at the options for that car, I'd get the Bando. I've had the best experience with those vs. a premium "gatorback" or other type cross-cut belt. Roadmax has never worked out for me (2 vehicles), and in the next price tier avaialble ($10 to $12), the Bando stands out in my experience.
 
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