Hey,

 

How long should a serpentine belt on a 2006 Tribeca last?  We had a new one put into the car about 26,000 miles ago and are now being told we need a new one.  (the car makes a rattling noise when you first start it up.).

 

Thank you

Joe

It's not the belt, it's the idler and/or tensioner pulleys. A well-known wear item for the 6-cyl. engine. I checked the pulleys at 60K and found noticeable play, so they were replaced preventatively. I did replace the belt because the old one was off anyway, but there was nothing wrong with the old one.

Thank you...The tensioner pulleys don't seem difficult to change out just a bit of a pain in the neck to get to...is that accurate?

 

After the car warms up we don't hear the rattle any more...I was thinking it could also be valve slap but after 94K im willing to try them

 

Thanks

Joe

It's not hard, just remove the "H6" cover and also the air intake horn to gain more room for the ratchet. Some money can be saved by either replacing bearings, or buying generic pulleys: it's all beaten to death on subaruoutback.org.

As to the valves, I seems no one was ever able to adjust valves on this engine as regular maintenance, with engine installed in the car (if someone proves me wrong, I'd be happy to hear how they did it).

Edited November 5, 201312 yr by avk