My under-hood repair.

[Ray,IN]

Today my serpentine belt broke, not by itself though. The idler pulley just below, and slightly right of the tension pulley froze. It burned the belt halfway through as it continued to spin. Finally the belt gave up. I had been hearing a buzzing noise off and on for a few days, looked under the hood at the belt and it appeared OK.
The belt had age cracks in it upon close inspection, so it likely would have failed soon anyway.
I am comfortable with this incident, as the truck is 10 years old, with 108,xxx miles.

This is the first "normal" repair the truck has required.
The injectors were replaced last year, they are a known issue with the first engine model (LB7), 2001-2004.5.
I would love to buy a new dually 4x4, CC, LB, D'max/Allison, but this one will outlast my remaining driving years., and is a good match to our 15,500# GVW 5er.

So, if you hear a faint buzzing noise from the engine compartment, check that the idler pulleys are spinning free; also check the belt for faults- since you will have it removed anyway.

[Arch Hoagland]

What kind of truck is it? What engine?

[Ray,IN]

Sorry Arch, I assumed everyone would know from the board title. It is a Duramax engine. The idler pulleys are all the same as far as I know, regardless of whether it's a GMC or Chevy, mine is an 02 but the same engine powers all 2001-2004.5 (LB7). Every engine has idler pulleys, so they bear checking once in a while. I waited until it broke the serpentine belt ( $ 76).

[new rver]

we have a 96 gas and couldn't get a squeaking noise to stop.change serpenten belt still no luck than same thing idler pully on top froze up.

[sc3283]

change idlers when changing belts....or visa versa...seems to be the new way with these high tension cheapy tensioners

[BigJay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sc3283 change idlers when changing belts....or visa versa...seems to be the new way with these high tension cheapy tensioners

I have an 05 lly with 217,000km on it and just replace the idlers,tensioner and belt due to a seized pulley. It was relatively easy and inexpensive. $225 in parts and about 45 minutes, plus the time I spent on google looking up the steps.

Dealer wanted over $600 to do this job. Booooo.

Yeah google.