Quick Belt Qustion

[prodsm]

Hey...

I was checkin out my power steering belt today and noticed it is getting old and
has lots of little cracks from the heat and its age etc.

The belt seems to be holding up well for its condition but do i have to worry about anything if it brakes (like clogging the timing belt etc) because i dont have time to change it right at the moment but i need to drive my car...... i will replace as soon as possible just wanna kno ifs ok to drive on.

Thanks

 

[MSRmechanic]

If it breaks there is a chance that it could get caught in the timing belt. it's probably ok to drive on but i would fix it ASAP. its only a 30 minute job if youve never done it before.

-scott

 

[19Eclipse90]

If you have a timing belt cover, which you should, you shouldn't have to worry about that. The thing to worry about is the alternator belt. My P/S belt broke on me while i was driving, started making this aweful noise... don't know where the P/S belt went to but the alternator belt was still in there hanging by a few strands and some of the wiring to the alternator and OFH were sliced up. Go ahead and replace the thing, it's < $10 fix.

 

[Anomoly#5]

Don't worry about it breaking. It cannot do anything to your timing belt assuming you have your cam sprocket cover on, Mine snapped on the freeway about 2 months ago, you just simply loose power steering. Its not going to make you crash into a wall or something if thats what your thinking. it just takes a little more effort to turn the steering wheel.

 

[DSM_One]

So how many belts are there aside from the timing belt and balance belt? And are they all the same size? I searched around shops and I see no distinction. And which is better v belts or multi-v belts?

Thanks.

 

[19Eclipse90]

Three if you have a/c in, two if you don't. Power steering and alternator. The alternator and a/c belts are pretty decently size, while the power steering belt is rather small.