Ford Fiesta (1995 - 1999) - 96 1.3 Correct width for aux. belt.

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Wed 15 Jul 2009 22:00
96 1.3 Correct width for aux. belt. - Rattle
Just being given me dads car a bit of a health check and apart from the stem seals being so worn its now burning at least 1 litre of oil per 1k miles I discovered the aux belt is only 1cm in width instead of the good inch its suppsed to be. I can see where it looks like it has almost been torn off.

Is this how belts inc cam belts usualy wear? My dad dosn't seem to think its a problem but when the belt gets that thin surely its only a matter of time? It drives the PAS, alternator and water pump so its quite important on this car.

Edited by Pugugly on 15/07/2009 at 22:48

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Wed 15 Jul 2009 22:02
Aux belt lost correct thickness - is this normal? - Pugugly
Make, model, engine and year please Rattle.
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Wed 15 Jul 2009 22:11
Aux belt lost correct thickness - is this normal? - Rattle
Was just a general thread but I suppose it might be more normal on some cars than others. Fiesta 96/97 1.3 with PAS (completly different belt to none PAS models).
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Wed 15 Jul 2009 22:21
Aux belt lost correct thickness - is this normal? - Rattle
Just to make this clear I am talking about the width of the belt rather than the actual thickness as such. The thickness is about 2mm which I suspect is ok. Just seen pics of when we first got the car and its a good inch thick so it has happened quite recently, I suspect my dad did in fact know about this fault but decided not to tell me because he knows I will tell him he needs to replace it.
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Wed 15 Jul 2009 22:27
Aux belt lost correct thickness - is this normal? - Pugugly
Changed the heading for you.
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Wed 15 Jul 2009 22:29
Aux belt lost correct thickness - is this normal? - bell boy
well a 96/97 fiesta could be either mk3 or mk 4
completely different engine and belt set ups too between them
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Wed 15 Jul 2009 22:40
Aux belt lost correct thickness - is this normal? - Rattle
MK4 1.3 Ghia so its the Endura engine. I have found a pic of the engine when I first got the car and it was the full thickness then. 3/4 of the pulleys are bare e.g there is no belt left driving on that area. It has power steering but no aircon. I was looking at doing this myself but there is an engine mount in the way and then you have to tension it etc so I am not going to even dream of doing the job.

The car is a December 1997 R Reg but being a 1.3 Ghia they never sold and it was actually built in April 96 so its one of the very first MK4s.

Edited by Rattle on 15/07/2009 at 22:41

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Wed 15 Jul 2009 22:48
Aux belt lost correct thickness - is this normal? - Pugugly
Changed it again :-o
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Wed 15 Jul 2009 23:14
Aux belt lost correct thickness - is this normal? - bell boy
i would say the hardest part is working out how the belt goes back on as last one i did on a mk 4 was a diesel and it certainly had me scratching my head
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Wed 15 Jul 2009 23:20
Aux belt lost correct thickness - is this normal? - Rattle
In that case the usual bloke will just tell my dad to leave it till it snaps :( What is likely to have happened to the rest of the belt? I could get pics up tomorrow if it will help. It just seems odd.
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Wed 15 Jul 2009 23:26
Aux belt lost correct thickness - is this normal? - bell boy
these belts are good for 100,00 mile or 10 years,looks like your dads went looking for the serpentine and a holiday as its past retirement age
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Wed 15 Jul 2009 23:30
Aux belt lost correct thickness - is this normal? - Rattle
I didn't even know they were supposed to last that long. I do check these things quite often so it must have happened recently. The car has done 81k now (same as my Corsa) but I suppose the age damages as much as anything as its rubber.

How long will it take an indie to it? I assume apart from the tension and working out how it goes you have to remove the engine mount and then support the engine from the floor? Its a far cry from using a bit of old sock.
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Wed 15 Jul 2009 23:35
Aux belt lost correct thickness - is this normal? - bell boy
about 35 minutes
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