Quick/Dumb Question about Serpentine Belt Installation

[roblutter]

I just installed a new serpentine belt on my 2005 Ford Explorer after some severe squeaking... here's the dumb question: where does the serpentine belt go around the crankshaft? There seems to be 2 sets of grooves... one off to the back and one to the front that is more in-line with the rest of the pulleys jutting from the front of the crankshaft. I put it into the back set and it immediately threw the belt, lol. Front-most grooves, right? Why are there 2 sets of grooves? Is my Explorer special? I'm very easily confused.

This is the 4.0L V6 Flex-fuel engine.

It's my first foray into home repair... can you tell?

 

[waskly]

pic, but your crank fell apart.... you probably need a new damper.

 

[roblutter]

Uh... I can try to take a picture of it. It doesn't look like anything fell apart. Unfortunately it's quite dark out right now.

So you're saying that my crank pully probably is failing/falling apart? Oh ****. Perhaps I should take it by the dealer in the morning as that's way beyond me.

I drove on it 20 miles today to/from work on the front part of the thing (I figured that was the way it went together, but it looked strange) and I had no problems with the systems attached to the belt (A/C was fine... power steering... no alternator problems... no overheating)

Is this not safe to drive on?

 

[waskly]

if you see 2 sets of ribs, one in the front and one in the back it fell apart.

you should only see one set of groves on the damper.

if it looks like it does in post 2 http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=267709

its broken.

 

[roblutter]

Oh my.

Yeah, I'm taking this right over to Ford in the morning (luckily it's across the street). I wonder how long it's been riding there (I didn't even look when I took the belt off).

 

[OneLever]

Wow good catch waskly. Fix that asap!

 

[waskly]

see wasnt such a dumb question after all

good luck. also be careful, it can stall the car out and damage the crank sensor or wires to the crank sensor.

 

[roblutter]

see wasnt such a dumb question after all

good luck. also be careful, it can stall the car out and damage the crank sensor or wires to the crank sensor.

Yeah, I'm glad that it got me to work this morning but until I climbed under the car I did not see the problem. It looks like a second set of grooves from being stuck underneath the main set (from what I see now).... I'll have to arrange for other means tomorrow because the missus is out of town till friday afternoon.

What the hell though? this car has just over 40k miles (bought it used off an old lady ~2 years ago).

It doesn't look like it did any damage though to the side components (which is why I'm guessing it's recent). What's this gonna cost? I'm afraid to ask. 1 day job? I wouldn't trust myself to do it.

 

[waskly]

these broke with 5000 miles also. its common on 04/05 ex's the new damper is redesigned and does not have this flaw.

 

[jakedrew]

^ do v8's have the same dampener?


Hope you get that pulley fixed asap. good luck! and welcome to the site!

 

[waskly]

^ do v8's have the same dampener?


Hope you get that pulley fixed asap. good luck! and welcome to the site!

no

 

[roblutter]

Wanted to thank y'all again for the spot on advice. Took it to Ford and they have replaced the HB with their newly redesigned version. Total cost of parts and labor $427 (the HB was $209.95, labor around 190, then tax... which was actually lower than I expected) and they had it back the same day. Truck is now driving like a dream with none of the squeakiness that lead up to the issue.

The new HB is a lot prettier than the old one, you can tell it was a total redesign. Should I bother taking this up with corporate as a part that should have been recalled or just let the sleeping dogs lie? Any success with that? After finding out about the issue I saw NUMEROUS reports online about this problem.

 

[1AJeremyD]

Glad to see your back on the road again!

 

[EasyRhino]

I'm glad you caught that before it 'blew up'.

As far as getting Ford to cover it, unless it is still under warranty or there is a recall, in general you are out of luck.

There are the ocassional rumored "hidden recalls" and some folks are able to get Ford to accept some of the costs, but it's not common.

 

[roblutter]

I'm glad you caught that before it 'blew up'.

As far as getting Ford to cover it, unless it is still under warranty or there is a recall, in general you are out of luck.

There are the ocassional rumored "hidden recalls" and some folks are able to get Ford to accept some of the costs, but it's not common.

Yeah, that's what I figured. Apparently the drive pulley is not considered part of the drivetrain. Even so, I believe there's only a 5 year warranty on that so I'd be slightly out of that loop. Oh well... hopefully this new part will last more than 40-50k miles. Just glad nothing terrible happened.

 

[waskly]

Wanted to thank y'all again for the spot on advice. Took it to Ford and they have replaced the HB with their newly redesigned version. Total cost of parts and labor $427 (the HB was $209.95, labor around 190, then tax... which was actually lower than I expected) and they had it back the same day. Truck is now driving like a dream with none of the squeakiness that lead up to the issue.

The new HB is a lot prettier than the old one, you can tell it was a total redesign. Should I bother taking this up with corporate as a part that should have been recalled or just let the sleeping dogs lie? Any success with that? After finding out about the issue I saw NUMEROUS reports online about this problem.

good to see you're back on the road.