If you care to take a look and check under the hood of your car, you will see all kinds of belts there. While an average person might be familiar with the functions of one or two of these vehicle belts, such as the V-belt, it is only understandable that many people don’t know their exact functions.
One of your main responsibilities as a vehicle owner is preventative maintenance. The key idea here is to always stay on top of your automatic repair and service needs, solving problems preemptively before they turn into bigger and more serious issues.
One of the most vital aspects of preventative maintenance is to replace the belts of your vehicle. Continue reading below to learn more about the different kinds of vehicle belts as well as their unique purposes and functions.
Table of Contents:
V-Belts
V-belts are those automobile belts starting at the crankshaft and extending through the components of the vehicle including the power steering pump, the AC compressor, the water pump, and the alternator.
V-belts are often found in older vehicle models.
The main purpose of a V-belt is to offer power to each one of these components. But V-belts are often found in older vehicle models. It is very rare for the V-belts to slip from the circuit and once the V-belts fail, it doesn’t mean that the other belts will fail as well.
Timing Belt
Timing belts also called Gilmer belts and camshaft drive belts, serve the main purpose of helping the crankshaft in turning the camshaft as needed. A rubber-made belt opens and closes the engine valves in a synchronized way with the pistons.
Functional belts are responsible for powering the cooling systems as they distribute car coolant all over the engine of the vehicle and by cooling the radiator as well.
The timing belt in modern-day vehicles offers a similar purpose and function as the timing chain used in automobiles of yesteryear. Once the timing belt fails, it will not result in extensive damage to the pistons, and this will ultimately ensure that the engine doesn’t need a total replacement.
These timing belts often need a replacement after 90,000 miles. But timing belts also have the potential of lasting for up to 110,000 miles or even more. Professional mechanics will replace the timing belt and the water pump at the same time since these two often go bad almost simultaneously.
