# Works-in-a-pinch fan-belt? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [July 9, 2024, 10:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312 "2024-07-09T22:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 9:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/21 "2024-07-10T21:41:32Z")
> [@George\_San\_Jose1](#): > > But only if you remember to make sure you have everything you need before leaving. But you will have these other odd things? ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 9:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/22 "2024-07-10T21:43:07Z")
Maybe it is better to just wait & hope for help arrive. Side of the road repair attempts can be very dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![cigroller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c68b51/32.png) [@cigroller](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cigroller)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/23 "2024-07-10T21:46:36Z")
Mostly of a different “story” but just creative roadside emergency solution to a cooling fan problem. I bought my '02 Envoy from a mechanic. (2nd owner). When I went to look at it, he walked me around and pointed out all of it’s little flaws. The little paint chips he’d filled with touch up paint. The button missing from the whatever switch in the cab. Told me about the HVAC actuator that prevented “face” mode on A/C & heat. And at one point he chuckled and said something like - “and oh yeah. I never put the headlight washers back in order.” It has a washer system for the headlights (similar to windshield washer system). He was on a road trip and the fan clutch went. It was a hot summer trip and they ran into some traffic. He pulled the lines for the headlight washers and directed them at the radiator. Stuck in traffic and getting too hot? Squirt squirt squirt. It got him home without overheating, he said. I liked this guy immediately. (And P.S. I also haven’t done a thing with the headlight washers…) ---
**Author:** ![PvtPublic](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/pvtpublic/32/13089_2.png) [@PvtPublic](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PvtPublic)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 9:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/24 "2024-07-10T21:47:21Z")
> [@George\_San\_Jose1](#): > > But only if you remember to make sure you have everything you need before leaving. I always have a tool bag with all the basics in the trunk, along with spare belt(s). Sorry call me crazy, but it just makes sense to me. Why get stuck where a tow may be 2 hrs. away, if you can get going again in half that time. ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/25 "2024-07-10T21:49:48Z")
> [@George\_San\_Jose1](#): > > Side of the road repair attempts can be very dangerous. Pull into a parking lot. Are you ever more than walking distance from home? A new belt is $3. Install a new belt, place the old belt and tools inside the truck under the seat. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/26 "2024-07-10T21:50:41Z")
> [@cigroller](#): > > headlight washers and directed them at the radiator. Stuck in traffic and getting too hot? Squirt squirt squirt. It got him home without overheating That’s pretty clever. I doubt I’ve have thought of that idea to mitigate overheating. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/27 "2024-07-10T21:56:36Z")
I get a laugh when I watch some show and a modern car is stuck on the side of the road with a problem. They pop the hood, and the clever character fiddles around with a pair of pliers and fixes the problem. All in a minute or two. Not gonna happen. ---
**Author:** ![JoeMario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JoeMario](https://community.cartalk.com/u/JoeMario)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 10:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/28 "2024-07-10T22:00:15Z")
> [@George\_San\_Jose1](#): > > As far as “giving it a rest” I’m interpreting that as a suggestion for me to not post, or not post as much. @JoeMario has done the math and says I’m not the top poster here. No math needed. This site sorts it automatically for you. > [@](#): > > Would you suggest the top poster also not post as much? That’s not what I was suggesting. There are many frequent top posters whose content is valuable and well worth reading and learning from. It’s the posts of no value that get old spending time reading. But because this is an open forum, anyone can choose to post whatever content they choose (within the site guidelines), regardless of whether those posts add value or not. If the posts bring value to the majority, then they will stay. Else the death-by-1000-cuts will continue to degrade the site. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/29 "2024-07-10T22:12:19Z")
Fair points, but suggest to explain how to differentiate the “fluff” from the “value” content? One suggestion I mentioned before would be to list the top ten most frequent posters here with the number of “likes” and “solutions” awarded to each of them. Then we’d have some measured data. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 10:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/30 "2024-07-10T22:27:19Z")
> [@Nevada\_545](#): > > Are you ever more than walking distance from home? It depends on the definition of “walking distance”. Given enough time I can walk a long distance. ---
**Author:** ![old\_mopar\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6bbea6/32.png) [@old\_mopar\_guy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/old_mopar_guy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 10:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/31 "2024-07-10T22:35:35Z")
And i find it odd how much more pleasant snd less confrontational this place was during the few months you werent here. ---
**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/32 "2024-07-10T23:05:37Z")
I’m having a hard time believing someone that as a maintenance plan takes the boots apart on his cv axles to clean and re-grease among other (useless to most) things would ever let his belts (rather Serp or V) ever get old enough to ever break… ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 12:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/33 "2024-07-11T00:10:30Z")
I actually just made a couple wrenches out of bar stock and a couple sockets to use on the tensioner, along with the spare belt in the trunk. I don’t know about the zip ties but a little wire for a fallen exhaust comes in handy. ---
**Author:** ![LoudThunder](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/loudthunder/32/27769_2.png) [@LoudThunder](https://community.cartalk.com/u/LoudThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 1:47am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/34 "2024-07-11T01:47:08Z")
> [@George\_San\_Jose1](#): > > None of my vehicles have serpentine belts, so I’m more interested in the “fan belt” substitutes If you want to be prepared for the possible or eventual break of a v-belt on your vehicle why do you worry about some off-the-wall convoluted substitute when you can buy a tried and proven replacement that is fully adjustable and easy to install replacement? Here is just one of many sources for a V-belt replacement and two or more can be joined together to create any size belt… ![belt](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/9/c/9cb5ef30bf6f68c48cddf60c5309d9c13eaadc0c.jpeg) > **[Vibration-Free Link Belt](https://www.harborfreight.com/vibration-free-link-belt-43771.html)** > > Amazing deals on this Vibration-Free Link Belt at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices. ---
**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 2:41am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/35 "2024-07-11T02:41:32Z")
Or here is an idea, just replace your belts now and be done with it for a while… If something came apart and slung your belt off, chances are, that a replacement will do the same thing… ---
**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 12:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/36 "2024-07-11T12:48:48Z")
There is a movie, Bombers B52, where Karl Malden is an AF mechanic. When Karl Malden takes his family on vacation their old car starts overheating. He says it’s the fan belt again, fixes it with a pair of pliers! ---
**Author:** ![LoudThunder](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/loudthunder/32/27769_2.png) [@LoudThunder](https://community.cartalk.com/u/LoudThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 5:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/37 "2024-07-11T17:57:28Z")
> [@Purebred](#): > > Bombers B52, The Movie “Bombers B-52” was made in 1957… In the video (linked below…), Karl’s car, a 1940 Buick Super 8, overheats (at about 10:30 into the video…) and Karl says, it can’t be that fan belt and his wife ask him why he does not buy a new one. Any case, he sends his daughter to open the steaming radiator and after it blows, his daughter puts cold water into the Hot Engine, Oh yeah, he’s a great mechanic… Karl did not get out of his car at all, no pliers… ![bombers](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/6/8/687450d6010d3144d367ec61bcd5328d0246b399.jpeg) https://www.youtube.com/embed/c95pULiAcnI?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 6:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/38 "2024-07-11T18:10:09Z")
Heh heh heh. Even then Hollywood was not filled with car guys. Old cars overheated a lot. I think the water pumps were the problem. They should have just done the vapor lock and she could have poured the cold water on the fuel line. Never liked the guy though. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/39 "2024-07-11T19:24:17Z")
> [@texases](#): > > But you will have these other odd things? +1 Additionally, if a cop wanted to search my car, and if I was carrying used pantyhose in the trunk, I don’t think I would be eager for him/her to see it. You never know what types of crimes might have taken place in that town to which something like this might (temporarily) tie you. I used to work with a guy who wasn’t wrapped very tightly, and when a woman rejected him, he drove to her home with a shovel, rope, knives, and a “manifesto” in his trunk, and he assaulted her. The cops came before he could kill her, but the stuff in his trunk resulted in him serving a longer sentence in the slammer. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312/40 "2024-07-11T21:29:03Z")
I tagged @LoudThunder the best overall “solution”, post 6. @Nevada_545 's idea above to install a new belt and keep the old belt in the vehicle as a spare is a good one too, b/c you know it will fit. Carrying only a new belt as a spare runs the risk it is actually the wrong size and won’t work when you most need it to. > [@davesmopar](#): > > someone that as a maintenance plan takes the boots apart on his cv axles to clean and re-grease … useless … I presume you are referring to my routine maintenance task on the Corolla to periodically remove the CV joints, clean the internals, and renew them w/ fresh lube. I don’t “take the boots apart” though. I move them out of the way to access the CV joint, and may replace them depending on their condition. The task procedures are described in maintenance section of the factory service manual. Whether this is a useless procedure or not, everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, in over 200k miles on the Corolla, I’ve never needed to replace a single CV joint or half-shaft. [Previous page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312.md?page=1) [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/works-in-a-pinch-fan-belt/195312.md?page=3)