serpentine belt 2000 Caravan 3.8L

> wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> maxpower wrote:
> > "John Keith" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > The serpentine belt just came off the pulleys on my wife's 200 Caravan
> > > 3.8L. The belt is not broken and the idlers/tensioners/pulleys all
> > > appear to be OK. My wife was driving home in rain/snow and I have
> > > heard of belts coming off in wet conditions like this. The belt has
> > > never come off before and she's had this car for several years and in
> > > similar weather conditions. Is the wet condition a reasonable
> > > diagnosis for this problem and is there something I need to do to
> > > prevent this in the future?
> > >
> > > The ribs on the belt do show some cracks and I'm guessing it makes
> > > sense to replace the belt as long as I have to restring it.
> > >
> > > Thanks for any advice!
> > >
> > >
> > > John Keith
> > >
> >
> > Keith, unless you know exactly what to look for as far as the tensioner
goes
> > I would replace the belt and tensioner together. When the tensioner
starts
> > to wear it will tilt at an angle and may cause a squeak.
> > When water hits the belt it will cause the belt to just slide right off
> > without warning. You don't say what the mileage, but if it is the
original
> > tensioner I would replace it.
> >
> > Glenn Beasley
> > Chrysler Tech
>
> It seems like there was a recall for the splash shield that protects
> the belt path. Do you recall Glenn?
>
> -KM
>
There was a TSB to install a shield, I have never installed one because the
tensioner is what caused the belts to come off

"Robbie and Laura Reynolds" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> John Keith wrote:
> >
> > The serpentine belt just came off the pulleys on my wife's 200 Caravan
> > 3.8L. The belt is not broken and the idlers/tensioners/pulleys all
> > appear to be OK. My wife was driving home in rain/snow and I have
> > heard of belts coming off in wet conditions like this. The belt has
> > never come off before and she's had this car for several years and in
> > similar weather conditions. Is the wet condition a reasonable
> > diagnosis for this problem and is there something I need to do to
> > prevent this in the future?
> >
> > The ribs on the belt do show some cracks and I'm guessing it makes
> > sense to replace the belt as long as I have to restring it.
> >
> > Thanks for any advice!
> >
> > John Keith
> >
>
>
> You're getting good advice, but I would add the water pump to the list
> of things to look at. I had a 3.3 engine Caravan a few years ago that
> threw the belt off because the water pump pulley was wobbly. Believe it
> or not, it didn't leak. It just threw the belt off. We also had a 96
> Caravan that started throwing the belt when driving through puddles. I
> changed the belt and it improved the situation.

Normally what causes the pump bearings to go bad and wobble like that is the
belt tensioner has seized. the tensioner is designed to give from the torque
of the belt. If the tensioner is seized the belt will transfer all the pull
to the water pump and cause it to fail. Most shops don't pick that up and
the vehicle returns shortly with another pump failure or the tensioner has
just completely snapped off.

Glenn

maxpower wrote:
>
> "Robbie and Laura Reynolds" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> >
> > John Keith wrote:
> > >
> > > The serpentine belt just came off the pulleys on my wife's 200 Caravan
> > > 3.8L. The belt is not broken and the idlers/tensioners/pulleys all
> > > appear to be OK. My wife was driving home in rain/snow and I have
> > > heard of belts coming off in wet conditions like this. The belt has
> > > never come off before and she's had this car for several years and in
> > > similar weather conditions. Is the wet condition a reasonable
> > > diagnosis for this problem and is there something I need to do to
> > > prevent this in the future?
> > >
> > > The ribs on the belt do show some cracks and I'm guessing it makes
> > > sense to replace the belt as long as I have to restring it.
> > >
> > > Thanks for any advice!
> > >
> > > John Keith
> > >
> >
> >
> > You're getting good advice, but I would add the water pump to the list
> > of things to look at. I had a 3.3 engine Caravan a few years ago that
> > threw the belt off because the water pump pulley was wobbly. Believe it
> > or not, it didn't leak. It just threw the belt off. We also had a 96
> > Caravan that started throwing the belt when driving through puddles. I
> > changed the belt and it improved the situation.
>
> Normally what causes the pump bearings to go bad and wobble like that is the
> belt tensioner has seized. the tensioner is designed to give from the torque
> of the belt. If the tensioner is seized the belt will transfer all the pull
> to the water pump and cause it to fail. Most shops don't pick that up and
> the vehicle returns shortly with another pump failure or the tensioner has
> just completely snapped off.
>
> Glenn

Wow, I guess I got lucky on that van. I replaced the pump and continued
to drive it for another 50,000 miles or so with no problems. I've
learned a lot about these minivans from you guys on the group. It's
just ironic that a lot of it applies to vans that I sold several years
ago. I wish I had had all of this information at the time.

On Thu, 26 Oct 2006 17:04:06 -0500, Robbie and Laura Reynolds
> wrote:

>You're getting good advice,

Yes, the discussion has been great and very helpful. Thanks everyone.

>We also had a 96
>Caravan that started throwing the belt when driving through puddles.

Whoa! That had to be a disturbing situation.



John Keith

John Keith wrote:
>
> On Thu, 26 Oct 2006 17:04:06 -0500, Robbie and Laura Reynolds
> > wrote:
>
> >You're getting good advice,
>
> Yes, the discussion has been great and very helpful. Thanks everyone.
>
> >We also had a 96
> >Caravan that started throwing the belt when driving through puddles.
>
> Whoa! That had to be a disturbing situation.
>
> John Keith

It was a 3.0 liter. Different engine, same problem. I have a friend
with a 94, 3.3 liter, that threw its belt when wet. I don't think he
changed the tensioner, just the belt. I'd listen to the guys on this
group if I were you, though.

And get an OEM belt and tensioner or you'll be doing this job sooner than
you want!
"John Keith" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:23:36 -0400, "maxpower"
> > wrote:
>
>>When the tensioner starts
>>to wear it will tilt at an angle and may cause a squeak.
>>When water hits the belt it will cause the belt to just slide right off
>>without warning. You don't say what the mileage, but if it is the original
>>tensioner I would replace it.
>
> Glenn,
>
> There has been no squeaking but the mileage is over 88K. I suppose
> I'll do the tensioner also as long as I'm digging around this area.
>
> Thanks for the quick reply.
>
>
> John Keith
>

The spring on my tensioner broke. A 97 T&C with a 3.8.

Don't know why. I started making noise, I took it in, and the guy said
the spring was broke. Never had a belt fail, btw. 242k miles. Have
replaced it maybe once? Was making some noise, and had a few cracks
and a glaziness (new word) to it.

also make sure that the drain tube for the wiper cowl/module is hooked to
the drain tube on right side or water pours on belt causing it top slip
off also rechack the ac compressor pulley and clutch operatiion

John Keith wrote:

> The serpentine belt just came off the pulleys on my wife's 200 Caravan
> 3.8L. The belt is not broken and the idlers/tensioners/pulleys all
> appear to be OK. My wife was driving home in rain/snow and I have
> heard of belts coming off in wet conditions like this. The belt has
> never come off before and she's had this car for several years and in
> similar weather conditions. Is the wet condition a reasonable
> diagnosis for this problem and is there something I need to do to
> prevent this in the future?
>
> The ribs on the belt do show some cracks and I'm guessing it makes
> sense to replace the belt as long as I have to restring it.
>
> Thanks for any advice!
>
> John Keith
>