Hey guys, I have a 2007 Ford F-150 4.6 with 165,000 miles on it, since about March I’ve been having troubles with going through serpentine belts like crazy, I’ve probably put 5 on it so far, I’ve also put several sets of idler pulleys on it as well, I can’t find any visible leaks that would be getting on the belt, they have mainly been auto zone pulleys and belts, the last set lasted about a month now I’m back to squeaking again, has anyone encountered this before? I’ve made sure the belts were lined up properly and were all clean. Let me know if anyone has had this issue and a fix for it.
Thanks in advance

 

You said you replaced the pulleys, what about the tensioner?

 

yes, tensioner replaced with the first set of pulleys, sorry for not including.

 

My next guess would be a bad bearing on a non idler pulley, like A/C, power steering, alternator. Also, are you sure it's the right belt? How much slack is in it between power steering and alternator?

 

? does going through belts mean they start to squeak, or you are shredding/damaging too?

? When belt removed, did you inspect the accessories for excessive play, etc?

? how old is alt and water pump ?

 

Positive it’s right belt, this is not much play between alternator and power steering pump. But not super tight

 

they start to squeak and yes I have inspected them for excessive play our prodemand isn’t working at the shop for me to figure out exactly how much play is to much but just by feel they are fine, and I assume water pump and alternator are original, I have all receipts for repairs and don’t see any replacement on either but of course you never know if previous owner done it themselves or not

 

It sounds to me like either a pulley, tensioner, or one of the accessories is not lined up correctly due to a loose or worn bearing causing the belt to wear prematurely. I went thru this on a 2000 Ranger 4.0, drove me cracy untill I found the water pump bearing was loose. Take the belt off & try to wiggle all the pulleys.

 

mike07f150,

It’s been a few days since you last posted. Have you resolved this issue and if so, please post the solution? Feedback is important so that we all learn solution paths to these issues.

Thanks in advance

Jimboy