My 2000 GPGT just topped the 100,000 ml mark and has always ran effortlessly. Very little, if anything, has ever been replaced on this car. It's always been able to effortlessly cruise to 70 to 80mph. Well, 1 week ago, I got the serpentine belt replaced (I was told it was cracked and needed replaced). We had been told it needed replaced for some time. So, I went ahead and did it. Since that being done, the car rides like it has to *work*. Once I get up to 60 mph, even though the gears have changed, the car seems to be having to give effort to cruise. Also, anytime the gas is pushed, it's louder than it used to be. I took the car back and I was told the belt was put on correctly and it couldn't be too tight or loose as it works on a pully system. But *I know* it's not the same as it was before it was replaced. I've been told by friends that possibly the old belt and the pully grew old together during those 100k miles and that now the pully is having a difficult time handling a new, tighter belt. Could that be true? Any other ideas?? Even though the belt is put on correctly, could it be defective? Is there a special belt that is supposed to be used for a GT?? After having a smooth, effortless ride for 100k miles, this is driving me nuts! Help!

I would ask them if they checked all your pullys. You could have some bad bearings in on of them but I'm not sure that would make you lose that much power.

Scrap,

I still have power, but *with effort*. That's the only way I can describe it....and not a purr any longer. I don't know, the car was great, then 30 minutes later after having the belt changed, it was like this. Now, obviously I'm not a mechanic, but if the pullys and bearings worked fine with the old belt, why don't they work fine with the new belt? Can someone help explain that to me so that I can go back to them with some sort of possible explanation to get my car back to normal? Otherwise, I will be sent away again with the ol' "the belt looks like it's put on right".

when bearings go bad they tend to make a noise so yull know when they go bad.

you have a gt so you have a driver info center(dic).
hows your mpg the same or less, when you let off the gas does it slow down quiker then usual.

you talk about noise on the exhaust so i would work with that ,catalyst is clogg? have yu changed brands of gas.

you have over 100k on car,if catalytic convet is clogged then that will give you some probs there.

if you know this mech which sounds like you dont dont give him carte blance on yur car yet.

at this point thats all the advice i can give you, unless someoe eles has a more difinitive cure.
i only have 65k on my gtp so ive not experience your sympton yet

sometimes you wont get an immediate answer and its not that we are ignoring you its just we are selves are trying to research yur problem then get back to you asap.

good luck

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it.
This change in smoothness was noticed immediately after getting back in the car following having the serpentine belt replaced. That's the reason I wonder if it's the type of serpentine belt ...or that the pully can't handle the new serpentine belt... It's definitely serpentine belt related as my car always ran smoothly from 0 - 100k miles. I travel alot and the change in effort it makes at ~ 55 - 60 mph concerns me. I've never so much as had to lightly place my foot on the gas to smoothly fly at 70 - 80 mph. Why would changing the serpentine belt cause a change in my past gliding, smooth sound/ride? And why when I now push on the gas (like climbing a low grade hill) am I hearing slightly more under the hood?

--nikkib

I would check the tensioner it may have partially seized in the position of your old belt spray the tensioner liberally with wd40 and with a small bar move the tensioner back and forth a few times wipe any excess spray off the belt .

How well do you know the mechanic? Is he well known from town? Only other thing i can think of is maybe he did something on purpose to you car to make you come back and spend more $? I can't say he did but I've seen it happend around me before.

He's a mechanic at the dealership and it's not at the dealership where we bought the car. They've always done good work for us. And I really don't think they are trying to have me come back to spend more $$$, because when I took the car back, they told me the belt was put on correctly and told me some other things (other than the problem), but that there was no reason to replace/do anything about it at this time. They seem to be very "up and up" people. It's just difficult for a mechanic to find subtle problems to fix. We always say that a car has to be "broken" in order to be fixed. Subtle things are very difficult to diagnose. (That's whether you go to Doctor or a mechanic or any other place of business.....(sigh).....) Oh well...I'll have them check the pullys and see if that's causing the difference I'm noticing.

nikkib

Have you ever heard of dual failures. It's when something fails (in this instance the belt), you fix it, but the car still acts busted (and it turns out something else is wrong too). Unfortunately, it happens way more than it should, and it always results in wild-goose chases.

A general loss of power could be any number of things. Most of them have already been mentioned. To eliminate bearings as the source of the problem, get a closed-end or sockett wrench onto the idler pulley and rotate it up off the belt. With your belt loose, spin your alternator, your water pump, your power steering pump and your air conditioner. All of them should turn fairly freely. If not, that could be the culprit (however, there could also be a third failure hiding there also).

Good luck and let us know what it turns out to be.

Regards, Gary in Sandy Eggo

Hello,

Changing a belt doesn't affect performance, unless it's a severlely worn SC belt, in your case, this is not the case.
If the belt didn't match the pulleys, you would notice noise, wear, or the belt falling apart, literaly. Not necesarily all of the above, but, at least one would be obvious, if not all. Even with all that happening, it's unlikely you would lose power from an accessory belt being installed improperly.
Going with what Gary said....
If you've got 100K on the clock, I would reccomend changing plugs and wires, among other things that the manufacturer recomends.

Later now,
Clint

Later now,
Clint