Drive Belt Replacement Cost

There are a few drive belts or serpentine belts in your car, and they can be responsible for running different components, such as the power steering pump, the air conditioning compressor or the alternator. The crankshaft provides power to these parts, and the drive belt helps them all work together and move in tandem. Once the belt starts to wear thin or breaks, it will need replacing, if those parts are going to work as they should.

You will pay between $120 and $160 for this replacement job. The labor should cost about $80, while parts will run you about $60. Taxes, various fees, the type of car you have and the condition it is in will all alter the costs for you, so if you are concerned about how much everything will cost, it’s a good idea to ask your mechanic before they do the work for you.

Drive Belt Replacement Cost Comparison

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Midas

Mr. Tire

NAPA

Walmart

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What Is Drive Belt Replacement?

Replacing the drive belt is fairly simple in most vehicles. In many cases, you will only need to replace the belts alone. It’s likely that several of the belts will need to be replaced at the same time, as they tend to all wear out at roughly the same rate, so expect to pay for a few of them at once. None of them are going to cost you much, though. The belts are all reasonably accessible, so repairs should not take more than an hour or two and should not cost very much.

Benefits of Drive Belt Replacement

Getting the belts replaced means that your car is going to be able to run properly. Those belts are essential for making sure everything runs smoothly, and the sooner you get them replaced, the better you will protect your car. Depending on the belt that’s damaged or missing, you may suffer the loss of different systems in your car, so getting this taken care of means that those systems will be up and working again.

What Is Done during Drive Belt Replacement?

This is one of the simplest repairs or replacements you can have done on your car. The mechanic will identify the belts that need to be replaced, loosen the tensioners to allow for some slack on the belts and remove the old belts. Then, the mechanic will put the new belts on, tighten up the tensioners and test the vehicle to make sure everything is properly installed and working well.

If you have driven without some belts for a while, there may be damage to other parts of the car, and the mechanic may need to identify that damage and make repairs, but in most cases, only the belts need to be replaced.

When to Get Drive Belt Replacement

You’ll want to replace the belts as soon as you know there is a problem. You could suffer system loss on the air conditioning, power steering, water pump and more. The longer you allow your car to be driven without the proper belts on, the more damage that is possible.

You can look for signs that you need to replace the belts. The most common one is an odd noise from near the engine while the car is driving- like a clocking or whirring sound. This can mean that the belt is worn or loose. If some of the systems in the car start to fail, then you should check for belts that are missing to see if they are the culprits.

Your belts will wear out eventually, so anytime you have your car checked over, or you are doing some work under the hood, take time to look at the belts and see if they need replacing. Look for signs of fraying or thinning to tell if you have to replace them yet or if they are good for a while longer.

How to Save Money on Drive Belt Replacement

Are you hoping to save yourself some money on car repairs? With this small job, you can do it yourself and cut out the labor costs entirely. It’s fairly simple, and if you aren’t sure if you did it correctly, you can just have a mechanic check it over for you, once you are finished.

You can also source parts yourself and compare labor costs between mechanics to find the best deal. You don’t have a lot of ways to save money on this simple repair, but doing it yourself isdefinitely going to be the most economical method.

Sample Drive Belt Replacement Costs