My '94 Chrysler Town & Country 3.8 liter V6 engine has thrown off it pullies the drive belt for the 5th time this month. Repeated trips to mechanic have not cured problem. He fixed tensioner, oil and water leak. I think it might be one of the pullies freezing up, maybe power stearing. What say you? Please help
You hate to admit it; but, you know you have the wrong mechanic. Try another mechanic / shop. This problem is not that difficult.
There two conditions that cause the serpentine belt to be thrown off these vehicles.
One is where water gets between the belt and the crankshaft pulley. This water lifts the belt off the pulley through hydraulic action. There’s a TSB that recommends adding a sheild at the crankshaft pulley to prevent water from getting between the belt and pulley.
The other involves replacing the idler pulley mounting bracket with an updated bracket. There’s a TSB in reguards to this problem. For some reason the old bracket fails to keep the idler pulley in alignment with the rest of the pulleys. This updated bracket eliminates that problem.
Tester
Then, again, these are designs which could be improved upon. There is no good reason for idlers and pulleys not to have a guide ridge on either side of the belt groove to prevent drive belts from “walking” off. Washers, larger than the idler or pulley, on either side of the belt run, is another possibility.