Input on a slipped belt.

Peregrine · **Posted:** Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:23 pm

So my 17 year old sister called me up today telling me that her CRD had started making a funny sound in the engine bay and lost power steering all of a sudden.... 25 min on the phone led us to determine that the belt had slipped off.

She sweet talked the guys at Jiffy Lube and the put the belt on, mentioning that they thought that (the air conditioning clutch?) was perhaps going bad and the reason for the belt slippage.

So I'm curious, (as I'm 1,000 miles away and can't go look at it), if that is a likely reason...... and...

1: What is needed in parts and labor to remedy that.

2: She was told by her mechanic father that she could drive it as long as she didn't run the A/C and kept the defrost off and the heat on warm on the floor.... does that sound logical?

Thanks!

kjjet · **Posted:** Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:36 pm

I would think if its on, It should be ok. But what caused it to jump? I would have it looked at ASAP by a mechanic.

Peregrine · **Posted:** Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:42 pm

I think what the Jiffy Tech was trying to tell her was that the AC clutch was failing (perhaps getting loose) and therefore allowed enough tension loss for the belt to jump off the power steering, alternator, ect..... I don't know for sure.... flying blind and on here-say at the moment. BTW, her jeep is an 05 CRD Sport with about 180K on it.

Drewd · **Joined:** Mon Feb 06, 2006 12:24 pm **Posts:** 902

My money is not on the a/c clutch but alternator decoupler pulley which, when fails, caused serpentine belt tensioner to fail too. Replace them both and you should be ok.

Haven't heard of a single CRD a/c clutch failure on this forum but plenty of alternator decoupler (mine failed too) and serpentine belt tensioners failing as a result.

LMWatBullRun · **Posted:** Thu Mar 21, 2013 9:14 pm

Concur w drewd.

msilbernagel · **Posted:** Fri Mar 22, 2013 2:16 am

Me three.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Fri Mar 22, 2013 7:48 am

Me4

BUT the AC runs in just about all positions including heat:furious:
Dash vents only and recirculate positions are the only two where the AC compressor does not operate.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:05 am

Me 5 and the AC runs in heat on the floor mode. I think Joe's right on the modes it doesn't run in but check the Owner's Manual to be sure. At 180K I certainly hope the timing belt job was previously done. If not park it NOW and get the job done.

Belt coming off is likely a tensioner problem. Happened to me on a Plymouth minivan due to a bad tensioner. Why is tensioner bad, could be just because or could be alternator pulley. If tensioner bounces at idle it's the alternator pulley.

mark2m · **Posted:** Fri Mar 22, 2013 12:04 pm

Weird thing with my Jeep. I could see the tensioner bouncing a bit and figured I need to replace my alt pulley but after replacing the timing belt and it's tensioner and serp belt the tensioner no longer bounces. Don't know why but thought it was interesting.

LMWatBullRun · **Posted:** Fri Mar 22, 2013 7:16 pm

papaindigo wrote:

<snip>

At 180K I certainly hope the timing belt job was previously done. If not park it NOW and get the job done.

Excellent point. What he said. Squared and cubed.

Peregrine · **Posted:** Fri Mar 22, 2013 7:31 pm

Thanks to everyone for the excellent input! Yes the timing belt was done at 107K So will be looking to do it again around 200K. I'll post back after we figure out what needs doing.... likely won't be for a month or more.

Peregrine · **Posted:** Tue Jun 25, 2013 2:29 pm

So I'm pretty sure that it is indeed the alternator clutch pulley and the serpentine belt tensioner that was causing the problem. I ordered a new alternator clutch pulley off of eBay. I'm not trying to find the best place to find a replacement serpentine belt tensioner for a reasonable price. The MOPAR part is over $200. Do I actually need the whole unit? Or do I just need to get a replacement pulley? The cheapest replacement I've found so far is this: http://www.jeepoutpost.com/tensioner-se ... 5072440ab/ for $69 and I'm curious to know what anyone thinks about it in terms of being a suitable replacement, quality, ect. Thanks!

papaindigo · **Posted:** Tue Jun 25, 2013 2:52 pm

I cannot in all honesty recommend purchase of a Crown part with a bearing based on recent forum experience with Crown water pumps nor do I know anything about the guts of the tensioner. I mention the latter only because the tensioner idler pulley/bearing is the same as the other 2 idler pulleys and can be replaced with NAPA 36101. Tigafila says "The bolt head you turn to release the belt tension is the bolt that holds the pulley on the tensioner, it's a left hand thread like the idler pulleys iirc. No need to remove the tensioner in fact I recommend you don't remove the tensioner. There are two holes in the tensioner that line up when you crank it all the way. You can release the tension, keep going till the tensioner stops, put a eighth inch punch through the two holes, screw the tensioner pulley bolt the opposite direction and it's in your hand. Its that simple."

What alternator clutch pulley did you get off eBay? If it's not Mopar or Litens it likely won't work. The CRD doesn't "like" solid pulleys or reactive pulleys. In fact many folks just drop ca. $150 for an Autozone or some such rebuilt alternator with a lifetime warranty rather than messing with removal/reinstall of just the pulley which can be a chore.

I would not automatically replace the tensioner. Check the pulley bearing for smooth running and no leaking of grease and replace if need be. Does the pulley "lean" into the power steering pulley? If not the guts of the tensioner are probably ok. Install the new serp belt and alternator/alternator clutch. At idle with AC on does tensioner sit pretty much steady with just a slight twitch as opposed to bouncing. If the former I'd bet tensioner is fine.

Peregrine · **Posted:** Tue Jun 25, 2013 3:00 pm

Thanks for the quick reply papadingo. That is a lot of information for me to digest, and I actually won't have time to go play with the jeep to answer the questions you asked until I get back from a work project this fall.

This is the alternator clutch pulley I ordered.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290926767873?it ... 60&vxp=mtr

Hexus · **Posted:** Tue Jun 25, 2013 3:40 pm

I would strongly recommend sourcing future parts out of IDParts.com.

1. They source primarily VM parts.
2. Cory is a forum member (support your brothers/sisters)
3. They have competitive pricing.
4. They're an actual business, not someone on Ebay(the only of which I would recommend is the Greek guy from Jeepalaktika or whatever)
5. 4/5 people on Ebay are sheister dealership parts managers anyways.
6. Their customer service is very good if needed.

Of course, this is just my experience with them and is by no means what everyone on earth will experience, but I can say nothing but good things about them.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Tue Jun 25, 2013 4:36 pm

That eBay vendor appears to be the eBay presence of LA Electrical which appears to be a valid company. The pulley is presented as a clutch pulley not a solid or "reactive" which is good but how good depends on the actual manufacturer which is not clear. Litens or NIPPONDENSO would be good.

Peregrine you may want to ask for advice on how to change the pulley. There is a special but pricey Miller tool and some have reported success with an impact driver and an allen wrench of the appropriate size whatever that size is. On the other hand others have reported no success getting the old pulley off hence my comment about a reman lifetime warranty alternator.

Peregrine · **Posted:** Tue Jun 25, 2013 5:04 pm

Thanks again papaindingo.

That is useful input on the pulley I ordered. I saw something about the allen wrench method on a different thread, figured that is what I would try. Hadn't seen that anyone had completely given up on it though, so that isn't encouraging news.

Hopefully I won't have to purchase a whole new alternator.... something about that seems really wasteful to me. :-)

I'll post back when I have another progress update.

Peregrine · **Posted:** Fri Oct 11, 2013 10:43 am

Hello All,

Just wanted to give an update.

Tracked down a new alternator pulley, new belt tensioner from IDparts.com, and a new serpentine belt from Napa. Had the mechanic swap everything out and the jeep purrs like a kitten now. Looked at the old alternator pulley and it was definitely shot, so was the belt tensioner.

Thank you to everyone for your input. It's so nice to have such a great group of people to help troubleshoot and diagnose issues, get things fixed the right way, the first time.

Hexus · **Posted:** Fri Oct 11, 2013 10:50 am

Awesome, glad we could help!

thermorex · **Posted:** Sat Oct 12, 2013 2:00 am

Lisle tools 57650 makes a removal kit for the clutch. I got one from eBay and I fixed mine (had an old one I replaced 2 years ago when clutch went bad). I paid 30 bucks for the set from ebay.

Input on a slipped belt.

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