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windstar serpentine belt

the belt came off today on my 1996 windstar. a what-i'd-call batched oil change slopped oil on the belt. it squealled like anything when i drove away but i kept going hoping the sound would just stop by itself.

well it didn't. got worse.

so i squirted some soap on the belt figuring to wash off the oil. that didn't work well. the serpentine belt popped off right away!

my question: did the oil change mess up the belt? did my putting soap on it mess it up? or was the belt already in a bad way? and the oil/soap just revealed the problem? do i have a bad tensioner?

thanks for any advice. i'll try putting the belt back on myself tomorrow, but i doubt if i'll be successful. ...thehick

Reply to
frank-in-toronto
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I would say it was a combination of both oil and soap. That probably made the belt so slippery that it slipped off the tensioner or some other pulley that the back side of the belt runs on.

Tim

Reply to
Tim Schoell

You'll know if it's the tensioner when you try to move it while reinstalling the belt. Try flexing it B4 you go to the trouble of routing the belt etc. I doubt the belt would have jumped unless the tensioner was pooched. You're likely looking at a new tensioner and belt, cheap stuff all things considered.

Reply to
DanLynwood

was the pulley. not the tensioner. took the van to a ford dealership. ...thehick

Reply to
frank-in-toronto

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