I went to change my belt as it's been slipping lately and at idle the charge voltage drops, good thing I finally checked, the bearing is shot on my water pump. Now I know where that ugly sound is coming from.

All other pulley's look ok, and the tensioner, so does the belt as far as cracking, but I'm sure it's stretched out from the extra motion at idle.

I hate to put money into this as I plan on trading it in soon, but it has to last and run well for top dollar I suppose.

 

Trade-in or not, you still got a sick satisfaction finding the culprit didn't you

 

It's a cheap fix.

 

I bought a belt when I bought my Ram (four years ago @ 86K). Now at 113K and I still carry that belt with me, just in case. I probably should get a battery, but I hate to replace the OEM 'til it dies.