Hi all,

I'm needing some guidance for this problem that occurred with my Xfire. I had the serpentine belt come off while driving and noticed oil pooled on the bottom of the belt and down below pullys #1 and #2. The belt is in tact and I'm assuming the leak caused the belt to slip off. I'm not sure where the leak is coming from.

I haven't changed the oil recently and the oil filter looks dry. I'm not seeing any leaks from the valve cover gasket, and I'm not sure that would be the culprit anyway since it's on top and I saw the oil pooling in the lower pan below the two pullys.



Can someone tell me where it could possibly be coming from? Can someone please also point me in the direction of a good repair manual?

 

Spin each pulley by hand and if you hear any grinding you’re found your culprit. Also grab the pulley and see if there’s any play on any of them. Do you have a picture of the oil you could post?

 

On second look the idler pulley which is known to fail more than any of the other pulleys looks to be crooked.

 

manuals are here.

Index of Crossfire problems and repairs - CrossfireForum - The Chrysler Crossfire and SRT6 Resource

 

Something similar happened to my while driving, power steering line actually got cut by the belt from rubbing. Fluid shot out shot the belt right off.

 

More than likely the belt failed (broke) and possibly cut an oil line. The belt can fail due to age or one or more of the idler pulleys became misaligned. Misalignment is usually caused by a badly worn pulley bearing that begins to heat up and track asymetrically. In my opinion if the belt and pulleys are all in good operating condition the belt should not come off even if it is splash with oil. I would replace all the pulleys and install a new belt as a starting point. Then I would search for the origin of the oil leak mentioned. Replacing the pulleys and installing a belt is not that difficult or expensive. See https://www.wikihow.com/Replace-a-Serpentine-Belt for a general procedure for replacing a surpentine belt. Also do a search on this forum.