No motorist relishes the inconvenience and hazard of being stranded on
the road. Yet, year after year, the nation's motoring clubs echo the
same service call reports. These organizations respond to more than 50
million annual customer calls, and they estimate one-fifth could be
avoided if car owners inspected tires, belts and hoses, and had them
replaced before they failed unexpectedly.
The
Gates Corporation, the auto aftermarket's leading supplier of engine
belts and hoses, also supports regular inspection and replacement.
Industry-wide, Gates says, at least 30% of all belts and hoses are
changed at failure, rather than on a preventive maintenance basis.
To
help motorists avoid car problems this winter, Gates has some simple
cooling system preventive maintenance procedures they should ask their
service technician to perform this fall.
Look for belt cracks
The
serpentine or V-ribbed engine belt drives the water pump, power
steering pump, air conditioner compressor, alternator and fan (if it's
not electric). When the belt on a serpentine drive breaks, it's the
equivalent of as many as three regular V-belts breaking at the same
time. Without the belt, the accessory drives won't work.
Gates
engineers recommend changing serpentine belts every four years,
regardless of appearance. They should be inspected at 60,000 miles.
If
more than three cracks per inch are evident on the grooved underside of
the belt, more than 80% of its service life is gone, and replacement
should be considered.
Serpentine belts usually are tensioned
by a spring-loaded idler mechanism that contacts the smooth backside of
the belt. Although the tensioner is designed to last for the life of a
vehicle, it can fail for several reasons including misalignment, loss
of damping, pulley bearing failure and internal spring wear. It can
easily be replaced the same time the serpentine belt is changed.
Feel for hose degradation
Until
recently, the most common method of checking an engine coolant hose was
to visually inspect its outside cover for signs of wear, or
"ballooning."
However, after four years of testing, Gates
engineers identified the primary cause of coolant hose failure as an
electrochemical attack on the tube compound of the hose.
The
phenomenon, known as electrochemical degradation, or ECD, produces fine
cracks, or striations, in the tube wall. These cracks extend from the
inside to the outside of the hose tube, near one or both ends of the
hose. The coolant seeps through these cracks and attacks the hose
reinforcement as it wicks along the length of the hose. The condition
eventually results in a pinhole leak or a burst hose at failure.
The
best way to check coolant hose for the effects of ECD is to squeeze the
hose near the clamps or connectors. If the ends are soft and feel
mushy, chances are, the hose is under attack by ECD.
A
replacement interval of four years for all coolant carrying hoses -
especially the upper radiator, bypass and heater hoses - can help
prevent unexpected failure from ECD.
Gates says the incidence of hose failure increases sharply after four years for most vehicles.
Reprinted from CarCare.org