Serpentine belts are a continuous belt system that connects all peripheral devices in a car’s engine, making them more efficient and easier to install than individual belts. They are less prone to breaking and stretching and have been used in cars since 1979.
Take a look under your car and you’ll most likely find a belt or belt system attached to pulleys at the front of your engine. If there’s just one belt wound across several different pulleys, you’re looking at a serpentine belt. The serpentine belt is different from other types of belt systems because the serpentine belt is one long, continuous belt that is connected to several different devices. Older systems employed the use of numerous belts to drive devices in the engine compartment, but after the development of the serpentine belt in 1979, most cars began using the system for efficiency and ease of use.
Peripheral devices like the power steering pump, alternator, and air pump connect to belt systems. In the past, two or three of these peripheral devices were connected to each other, but not to all peripheral devices. Therefore, if one of the straps broke, the driver might not be aware of the loss of a device. Because the serpentine belt connects all the pulleys of the peripheral devices, the driver will quickly notice if the belt breaks because all the peripherals, including the power steering, will immediately suffer or shut down completely.
Serpentine belts are much easier to install than individual belts. There is usually a movable pulley that puts tension on the serpentine belt, so replacing the belt involves simply loosening that pulley, removing the old belt, replacing it with a new serpentine belt, and tightening it to the proper specifications. Older systems required a mechanic to identify which belt was broken and work around other belts and engine components to replace the belt.
Serpentine belts are less prone to stretching and breaking than smaller, weaker individual belts. Tension is more evenly distributed across the belt, reducing slippage and stretching. Because serpentine belts are typically longer, larger, and wider than individual belts, they tend to last longer and resist frequent breakage.
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