My neighbor has a 96 SSEi that keeps eating belts. You can drive the car for a few days, but by the end of the week the belts will be totally destroyed. I haven't seen the car personally, my dad told me about it. I said it was probably a bad tensioner or idler pulley since there are so many of those damn things on the */C belt. Think this is what the problem is?

That'* the best place to start looking. Make sure the tensioner assembly on that belt still feels tight when changing belts. Changing the idler pulley on it might be a good cheap thing to try. Is the belt shred always on one edge or the other?

I guess that the belt actually isn't breaking, it just flies off when you drive it. lol. It stays on for a little while but will fly off everytime you drive it. I wonder if they're just putting it on wrong. May have to take a look myself. anything specific to look for?

Sounds like either a siezed pulley bearing and or something wrong with the tensioner springs.. the second sounds more feasible if it just POPS off during driving.. but more info would help.. and there'* way too many drunken Gearheads here that can give you better advice.. how much force is needed when they pushed the tensioner back??



Is there a way of finding out what the book says?? maybe a way of looking into it via torque wrench or something?? humm.. just thinkin out loud

I could do the torque wrench comparison later if that would help. We'd have to know if custom88 has a torque wrench available at the other end. I really buy the broken tensioner spring.