If you do not spend a lot of time tinkering under the hood of your car, you may have no idea what a healthy fan belt looks like. Whether your vehicle uses an older V-belt in a two-belt system or a modern, multi-purpose fan belt, you will learn that most fan belts come in black. These belts can have grooved sides or they may have one smooth surface.

You know that your fan belt is in good condition if the grooved rubber and the smooth-sided rubber are free of cracks. Cracks indicate old age and dry rot. Eventually, your cracked fan belts will break, stranding you in the middle of your drive.

Aside from that, there should be no frays around the edges of your fan belts. Such condition is an indication that the fan belt is incorrectly tracking across the pulleys. A frayed fan belt can snap at any time. Finally, you should check whether there are missing grooves, ensuring that they are uniform in spacing and size. If you find any of these issues, it is time to bring your vehicle to a service center for fan belt replacement.

This article comes from carused edit released