Lr4 5.0 serpentine belt issue

My serpentine /accessory belt (not fan belt) keeps breaking and I can't figure out why.

Backstory: needed to replace my ps pump. First start after replacement, the belt snapped immidiatly at start up. I thought it may be from spraying the front of the engine down with brake cleaner(trying to tidy up). This was also a belt that had 40kiles on it.

Replacment belt 1: started car, idled for 10 minutes, no issue. Turn off and restarted, snapped immidiatly.

Replacement belt 2: snapped immidiatly at startup.

Replacement belt 3: drove the car approximately 100 miles, no issue, mutiple restarts during this time. Started the car this morning, belt snapped immidiatly.

I've verified that the pulleys are all aligned and spinning freely.

The belt I've been using to replace it is Continental Belt # 4060967. All the belts have been the same part. Maybe I should change to another make?

Besides the frustration that I know don't trust the truck since it breaks belts at random, it also causes collateral damage almost every time it breaks. sensors, wires, etc on the front of the engine are all taking a beating and some are breaking.

Any suggestions?? I kind of want to drive it off a cliff at this point. Lol

Not much in the manual to go on, are you absolutely sure everything is properly aligned and routed properly?
I just had my belt off for another project and when I double checked the alignment, the belt was not quite perfectly aligned on the power steering pump. Glad I caught it!
Maybe your tensioner has failed?

Here is some information from the manual.
I would go with the Rover branded belt.

Yea, definitly aligned and routed correct. Qt this point, I feel like a pro. Can get the belt on, with fan belt still in place, in about 15 minutes. Lol.

When it is started and not broken, everything spins nice with no noise or wabble. No fraying is present.

What puzzles me the most is that it has ran for some miles between breaking, then out of nowhere is snaps at startup. If somthing was wrong, it would (should) be more present when running.

I've ordered a gates belt. Hopefully quality is better. Maybe continental has a bad batch of belts out there?

I believe there was a TSB on a bad idler pulley, and I remember someone on here had a problem with the idler that shredded his belt. Might have been Fuji4.

Just googled quickly and found the TSB: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2015/SB-10106005-9340.pdf. The TSB is for a humming noise, but I think the problem is that the bearing gets water/dust in it, and then can seize up - maybe not totally, but enough to slip and wear that belt out.

Interesting.

I just ordered a new tensioner. Maybe I'll lump an idler pulley into the order as well.

I'd be suprised that this is a problem all of a sudden, but at this point, I just need to get it working and reliable (as reliable as a LR can be) again.

When the belt is off have you checked for any debris on the tensioner? When I changed mine I was amazed at how much was on there. I scraped off a surprising amount, it felt lumpy in places and very caked on.

Just removed the old belt from being wrapped around the crank pulley. Waiting for a new one and tensioner to be delivered(friday). The old belt is not frayed at edges at all. It's as if it's stretched and ripped in half.

The tensioner pulley has a sheen to it where the belt sits, and is coated with dirt at the edges of the pulley....but I wouldn't call it debris.

The ps pump is new, is spins about 1/4 turn after I spin it by hand. Seems consistent from before installed.

The water pump is about the same. 1/4 turn after release. This is relativly new. Installed 18 months ago /10k miles ago.

Ac and alternator spin freely, but have resistance. No spinning after release. I assume this is by design due to how they work.

Idler pully spins very freely.

Tensioner pulley spins very freely, with a slight rumble. It's original to the car. 150k. Tensioner itself retracts and springs back consistently when pryed. Replacement on the way.

I don't think the water pump is the issue, but can anyone confirm that's how much it should spin? Car ran low(dry?) On coolant a week ago due to a bleeder cap blowing off. Ran for about 30 seconds after the low coolant light came on. I don't beleive the water pump is coolant lubricated so that shouldn't have damaged the pump. Probobly just my paranoia.

You should be ok with the water pump.

My money is the tensioner is past it. You’ll see when the new one comes. Remember these things (tensioners) move every time you get on and off the gas to keep the belt tension consistent, it’s very much a dynamic system. If the spring is on it’s way out then it will allow the belt to essentially slap around more than it should and this could be your issue. There’s not much forgiveness with these grooved belts.

That’s assuming the belts you’re using are a direct replacement for the LR part that is. I’ve not looked at a cross reference for them myself.

Rereading your post, I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t have a rumble on the tensioner pulley. So I’m doubling down on the tensioner.

On the water pump spin question. I just replaced a perfectly good one last month.
Of course mine is empty and in a box, but it spins maybe 2 full rotations when I give it a flick of the wrist.
But yours is installed the vehicle so it's a different configuration...

txfromwi said:

On the water pump spin question. I just replaced a perfectly good one last month.
Of course mine is empty and in a box, but it spins maybe 2 full rotations when I give it a flick of the wrist.
But yours is installed the vehicle so it's a different configuration...

Click to expand...

Yea, I think the resistance of the coolant on the impeller would impact this