I put on a new serpentine belt though the "old" one was only about 5 months old. After starting I checked the belt to make sure it was in the grooves and it wasnt so I realigned it and started it again and noticed that it was out of the grooves again.

I noticed at this time that the crank pulley isn''''t on the same plane (isn''''t lined up) as the other pulleys. It is farther left (away from the engine) than the others. I had noticed earlier that the crank pulley seemed to be vibrating but the rest of the engine really wasn''''t. I tried to tighten the bolt and it is tight. I also noticed that (and this is going to be hard to explain) on the back side of the pulley, nearer the engine there is a silver ring with slots in it that looks cleaner than the rest of the engine as though it were just exposed recently.

I would appreciate anyone with some explanation as to how this could happen and of course how to fix the problem.
Thank you

I have seen online that the "pulley" is properly termed harmonic balancer sorry for any confusion.



Edited by: jetplt67

 

<a name="3"></a>the problem IS your harmonic balancer. The harmonic

balancer is the pulley on the front of the crankshaft that provides the

power to run the belt. It''s made up of three pieces. There''s the steel

inner part, which bolts to the crankshaft; there''s a rubber sleeve around

that which dampens crankshaft vibrations; and then there''s the outer steel

part, which has grooves for the belt.

<a name="4"></a>

<a name="4"></a>what happens is that the rubber sleeve wears out and pushes the

outer part of the pulley away from the engine. That pulls the belt off of

the other accessories, including the water pump, which is what ultimately

shreds it.

<a name="5"></a><a name="5"></a>What you need to do is see if the pulleys are in alignment. Using a

piece of string, or a straight edge, look down from the top and see if any

of the pulleys are not in the same plane. It could be any pulley, but it''s

most likely to be the harmonic balancer.

This was the fix I found if anyone is interested. If you are removing the balancer on a 2002 Silhouette be careful of the sensor right behind and below it is easy to break, don''t ask how I know. I haven''t figured out what it is yet but it may be for the tachometer which I am sure feeds the computer and lots of other things from there.