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I have been working on my son’s 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan trying to figure out what is causing his serpentine belt to smoke and eventually stall his van. I removed the belt and inspected the pulleys the belt runs to see if one of them might be seized. All pulleys turned freely. I started the vehicle briefly to check the crankshaft pulley (damper) and it turned as well. I put a new belt on and started the vehicle. Smoke was again generated and seemed to come from the area where the air conditioner pump and alternator are found. I’m still under the assumption that the smoke is being caused by one of the pulleys seizing up but am at a loss as to how to isolate the defective pulley. I thought that perhaps the clutch on the air conditioning pump might be malfunctioning and seizing up the pulley but am not really sure if this is a possibility. The serpentine belt turns the pulleys on the following items: alternator, air conditioning pump, water pump, power steering pump. The belt tensioner and idler are also part of the system. I would really appreciate some advice as to which way to proceed with solving this problem. Thanks in advance.
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Was the belt replaced recently before this started happening? Wondering if the correct belt routing was used if so. Also, how is the tension on the belt?
also, make sure the AC compressor is turned off (and defrost is off too) when you’re doing your testing. Although the pulley will spin by hand with the belt off, the clutch may not be spinning when the compresser is engaging causing the belt to smoke due to it being seized.
I also seem to remember these engines having a particular problem with idler pullies and belts falling off in the rain. Although that’s a completely separate issue from what you have.
It definitely sounds like the AC compressor may be internally seized based on what you say so far. I’ve certainly seen that a few times before. However, that will only cause the problem to happen when the A/C is actually running. You should be able to run the car with the A/C off without a problem. Keep in mind that the defroster setting runs A/C even if it gives no indication of that on the heater controls.
Regardless of which pulley it is, you should be able to see one of them slowing down or stopping when the belt is being smoked. It simply has to happen. You may need better light or something like that to see it, but I’ve never had a belt slip that bad that you couldn’t visually see a pulley resisting movement.
No, the belt hadn’t been changed recently. That makes sense to turn off the heater to see if things change. Tomorrow, if the weather warms up, I’ll crawl back under the vehicle to see if I can notice a pulley turning slower than normal. Thanks for responding to my request. I very much appreciate your advice.
The problem happened with the old belt on. The belt tension seemed OK to me, however, I haven’t checked into what the deflection range should be or where on the belt to check it. Good idea to test it with everything turned off.
[quote=”Fopeano” post=127310]It definitely sounds like the AC compressor may be internally seized based on what you say so far. I’ve certainly seen that a few times before. However, that will only cause the problem to happen when the A/C is actually running. You should be able to run the car with the A/C off without a problem.[/quote]
Normally, I’d agree with you, but there’s no limit to the strange ways those Nippondenso compressors can fail in a Caravan. The pulley bearing itself might very well be failing and it won’t necessarily give you the blatant evidence you’d normally expect to see. You’re probably right on the nuts about the compressor failing in some way though. (I had one shear the entire front of the compressor off. It took the pulley, the clutch, the hub section, and the front of the shaft clean off leaving the rest of the case intact. The driver came in swearing the transmission was falling out of it.)
What I would look for on either pulley is a rusty hued dust radiating outward from the pulleys. It’s going to be a reddish brown or a brownish red color or maybe an off purple kind of color to it. Both the compressor and the alternator are both viable candidates to show the dust and it’s possible one component can powder coat the other. The ORC pulleys on the alternators are also fairly prone to failure, so don’t be surprised if you have to replace both the compressor and the alternator at the same time.
[quote=”WOTStang” post=127296]I also seem to remember these engines having a particular problem with idler pullies and belts falling off in the rain. Although that’s a completely separate issue from what you have.[/quote]
That was for the 96-00 generation. Those engines got a lot more user friendly to work on after that generation too. 3.3 vs 3.8 won’t matter this time around. Externally, those engines are identical twins.
Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciated reading about your own experiences with this kind of problem. I got back under the vehicle yesterday and took a closer look at the AC and alternator pulleys. The alternator turned out to be the culprit. My son and I ran out to a wrecker to grab another alternator and tossed it in. Problem solved and cheaply done. Thanks again to all of you for taking the time to respond to my request for help. I love this site. My granddaughter now calls me the car doctor!
[quote=”golver” post=127631]Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciated reading about your own experiences with this kind of problem. I got back under the vehicle yesterday and took a closer look at the AC and alternator pulleys. The alternator turned out to be the culprit. My son and I ran out to a wrecker to grab another alternator and tossed it in. Problem solved and cheaply done. Thanks again to all of you for taking the time to respond to my request for help. I love this site. My granddaughter now calls me the car doctor![/quote]
Awesome! So glad to hear you found the solution to your problem, and that we could all help you here. It’s stories like these that make me (and everyone else here) proud to do what we do. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than fixing a problem, besides knowing that it helped another person in need. 🙂
[quote=”WOTStang” post=127758]Awesome! So glad to hear you found the solution to your problem, and that we could all help you here. It’s stories like these that make me (and everyone else here) proud to do what we do. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than fixing a problem, besides knowing that it helped another person in need. :)[/quote]
Well said and completely true. +1 Karma
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