993PET

This light came on this morning after the car had been outside all night in humid conditions. I noticed a slight belt squeal on starup that disappeared after a few seconds.

After 2 minutes of running on the freeway the light came on, I pulled over immediately to inspect the belts they appeared to be in good condition with good tension. After stopping and restarting the the engine the light went out and stayed out for the rest of the 30 mile trip.

My 97' has 46k miles on it the belts are original, I guess its time to change them! or could it be cold slippage due to the moisture?

JF

Robin 993DX

It could be the belt sensor that's going bad too. You can pull the belt sensor roller sway from the belt (while the engine is not running) and try to roll the roller with your finger and see if it would move freely.

If it binds then you will need to either lubricate the roller bearing or replace the unit.

I did a DIY on how to take out the belt sensor roller and how to lubricate it.


<a href="http://p-car.com/diy/roller/" target="_blank">Belt roller sensor DIY</a>

Ray Calvo

[quote] My 97' has 46k miles on it the belts are original, I guess its time to change them! or could it be cold slippage due to the moisture?
<hr></blockquote>

My own experience is they should be replaced at about 30K miles. After this mileage, a careful look at the underside of the belts and I notice cracks starting to form between the "teeth". When belts strart drying out this way, you're asking for trouble.

Jeff 993TT

Also, there is an updated alternator pulley that is supposed to reduce wear on the alternator belt.

You can find more information here: <a href="http://p-car.com/diy/vbelt/" target="_blank">http://p-car.com/diy/vbelt/</a> ( Towards the bottom )

I'd recommend the change because it's cheap insurance. However, there are others ( ie Ray ) that would recommend "Don't fix it if it ain't broke.."

If you are interested, do an archive search, we've discussed the alternator pulley update many, many times.

Jeff

Allen

I had very similiar symptoms minus the squeal. I would first verify that the pulley is not binding, like Robin suggested. If it is rotating fine, then I would remove the switch/roller assembly using Robins DIY instructions and open up the assembly case and check the switch inside. More than likely, your switch is intermittant and you should be able to "adjust" (bend) the actuator just a bit so that the actuation of the switch from the roller arm happens a bit earlier. BE SURE that you verify that the switch will still actuate, because if you bend the acutator too much, it will NOT actuate when the roller arm "senses" a broken belt... very bad thing. What I'm talking about becomes much more clear when you are lookng at the switch. REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU FIND WITH THE SWITCH/ROLLER ASSEMBLY, YOU SHOULD GET YOUR BELTS REPLACED. Like Ray said, you will see cracking on the underside of the belts when you get them off...I saw it on my '97 with 33K miles. I understand that a belt breaking can cause a nasty dent to the engine lid I'm sure you wouldn't want that.

Ray Calvo

[quote]I understand that a belt breaking can cause a nasty dent to the engine lid I'm sure you wouldn't want that. <hr></blockquote>

An alternator belt break could also take out your cooling fan belt - leaving you stranded and at the mercy of "Larry, Moe, and Curly Towing"

You can drive w/o A/C or (an hour or so) battery charging, but lose that cooling fan belt and you are dead in the water (or highway) immediately.