Drive Belt Pulley

When I heard the clicking on starting the truck I thought I needed a new battery. Road Service gave it a jump start, said the battery was okay but, I needed a new terminal. I took it to the local auto parts shop, they wanted to sell me a new battery but, I checked before going and it was only 37 months in on a 65 month battery. I had them do a quick charge and replace the terminal.

The sales person said the truck needed valve cover gasket replacement, new drive belt and brake bulbs.

I replaced the bulbs and took the truck to my auto guy. He said the gasket looked more like sweating but would need replacement at some point.

The belt was fine but the tension pulley was showing more space on one side and that would also need replacement at some point.

He did not seem overly concerned about either problem and did not give a timeline on when this should be done.

Wouldn't I notice an oil leak or something when the gasket needs to be done?

Besides looking to see if more space is showing on the pulley, when will I know that it's shop time.

I read somewhere that if the belt fails, I could still drive a mile or so to get off the road.

 

Most any discharged battery will show bad, it needs to be charged before you can really test it. It might also be a good idea to check/clean all your battery/starter connections.

I don't think you could drive a mile without the serpentine belt but you can drive it to the side of the road. You won't have any power steering and the electrical will be running off of the battery but the main thing is the water pump won't circulate the coolant when the belt breaks.

 

If you do get a new belt put on it, do yourself a favor and request the old one back. Stow it under the seat or some other convienent place in the vehicle. I did this once and was glad I did. Late on a sunday night on a trip home thru no mans land in the middle of PA the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree. No power steering, amp gage going nuts. I pulled over, opened the hood and saw that the 10,000 mile old belt I had was gone. Pulled the spare out of the trunk, put it on and went on my way. Don't know how long I would have been there if I had not done that as no cars passed me the entire time I was stopped

 

your location says FL, if so three years in summer florida heat could cause the battery to wear out quicker than its stated life. batteries don't like heat. and like you already did, make sure the connections are clean and free of corrosion as well.