When do you need to change your vehicles serpentine belt?
If you ask any auto repair and service shop, or automotive maintenance shop, they will tell you that vehicle owner’s often fail to replace their car’s serpentine belt in a timely manner. Years ago, auto mechanics had to replace multiple v-belts when they worked on a car. Today, one belt, called a serpentine belt, replaces these.
The old rule of thumb to determine when to replace a serpentine belt was when a belt had numerous cracks across the different “ribs” per inch of belt. The attached picture shows a belt with numerous cracks per inch. If you don’t address a belt that needs to be replaced, you risk the belt breaking and being stranded on the side of the road. Most serpentine belts will need replacing once every 5 years, depending on the number of kilometres you drive.
In recent years, this has changed. New technology in the rubber used to make serpentine belts keeps them from developing cracks. These belts do need to be replaced, however. The rubber on the belt wears much like a tyre does. Over time, the belt will loose rubber and the gaps between the “ribs” will become deeper. Auto mechanics use a depth gauge to measure the wear of the belt. Trusted repair shops, like Auto Super Shoppe Rangiora, will inform customers when their belt has too much wear and needs to be replaced.
Make sure your automotive repair shop checks your belt(s) at each oil change and advises you of the condition.
Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
Want to read more? The Press has you covered!
-
52.7% Human-centred experience and communication
-
14.6% Critical thinking
-
30% Resilience and adaptability
-
2.7% Other - I will share below!
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Loading…
