Overlooked maintenance .......................

[ZR]

Things commonly overlooked that are sure to stop your ride in it's tracks.

Drive belt, idler pulley(s) and tensioner. Amazing how many come in on the hook because bearing in a pulley let go, belt off and caused other problems or even worse you didn't notice and fried the engine. Anything north of 5 or so years / 100k you should at least pop the belt off and spin everything the belt runs and listen carefully for one starting to fail. Another tell tail sign is a pulley that spins for a long time after you've given it a flick, chances are it's running out of grease. A ton cheaper n easier to replace now vs stuck at the side of the road.

Happy trails.

[LX89]

Last year I replaced the serpentine belt in my 89 with a "new" spare belt I had in the hatch where the spare tire is.
That "new" belt is probably 20+ years old.

It still looked like new,lol.

[Spock]

Multigroove belts are a lot better & longer lasting than the V belts of the past.

I think the bearing quality in the pulley's is on the decline in the newer vehicles

[xeninworx]

I’ll be replacing my belts in the spring. 9 year old car but only 30k on it.

[ZR]

TIRES TIRES TIRES

Low low miles on your all original love it to death 9yr old ride but did you know your tires might be trying to hurt you? Yes even if the tread looks amazing, may be dried out and rotted to the point they could fail without warning. Only takes a minute to check the production date.

[5.4MarkVIII]

Things commonly overlooked that are sure to stop your ride in it's tracks.

Drive belt, idler pulley(s) and tensioner. Amazing how many come in on the hook because bearing in a pulley let go, belt off and caused other problems or even worse you didn't notice and fried the engine.

.

But it just started making noise yesterday.

[shadow]

Thanks for the info ZR, but how old is too old?

[ZR]

At somewhere between 5-7yrs rubber is hard enough that traction has fallen well off (especially in cold / cold n wet roads etc) and it may be starting to shows signs of cracking. Keep in mind, you don't get a second chance when a tire suddenly looses traction / blows out. On ultra h/p tires, max performance may drop off even sooner.

[swalt]

Things commonly overlooked that are sure to stop your ride in it's tracks.

Drive belt, idler pulley(s) and tensioner. Amazing how many come in on the hook because bearing in a pulley let go, belt off and caused other problems or even worse you didn't notice and fried the engine. Anything north of 5 or so years / 100k you should at least pop the belt off and spin everything the belt runs and listen carefully for one starting to fail. Another tell tail sign is a pulley that spins for a long time after you've given it a flick, chances are it's running out of grease. A ton cheaper n easier to replace now vs stuck at the side of the road.

Happy trails.

You mean when my waterpump starts to sound like a Kenne bell, that is not good? I spend too much time maintaining the sleds.....the car just takes a back seat. Might have to give it a bit of love this spring. It's a start...I logged into the forum after I don't know how long.

[Stephen06GT]

You mean when my waterpump starts to sound like a Kenne bell, that is not good? I spend too much time maintaining the sleds.....the car just takes a back seat. Might have to give it a bit of love this spring. It's a start...I logged into the forum after I don't know how long.

STEVE!!!