Serpentine Belts - All You Need To Know
What's a serpentine belt?
As the name suggests, a serpentine belt is one long, snaking belt that keeps various engine components like your power steering pump, air conditioning compressor, alternator and water pump running as efficiently as they should. People also call it a multi-vee, poly-v, or multi-rib belt. These days most Honda vehicles are equipped with them and they've replaced most other belts due to being compact and more cost-effective to replace. It's the one belt to rule them all.
When does a serpentine belt need to be replaced?
With use comes wear and tear, and over time serpentines belts can crack, fray or slip as their grooves lose depth. Despite the benefits of only needing to replace one belt instead of several, a failure of a serpentine belt typically means multiple components like engine cooling, battery charging and power steering won't be functional. It may be difficult to tell if your serpentine belt needs to be swapped out, but our Honda-trained technicians have the expertise and tools to measure the depth of the grooves and replace them when the time is right.
With this in mind, you can still keep an eye out (or an ear rather) for things like chirping or squealing from the engine. Your car's check engine light will also illuminate if the serpentine belt fails and you'll notice system performance loss for power steering, a sudden draining in the battery or high engine temperature gauge readings. You should never drive your vehicle if this is the case as this could lead to additional engine damage and malfunctions. Call us as soon as you can.
How long does a serpentine belt last?
Serpentine belts are built tough, and due to advancements in rubber technology, they typically last about 100,000kms or 5 years before you'll need to replace them.