The serpentine belt will usually fail due to age but also if coolant or oil from within the engine leaks out onto it. If the serpentine belt were to fail for some reason, then all these peripheral engine accessories would malfunction or stop working altogether.Ī failing serpentine belt will cause your engine to overheat and eventually stop running. Not only is it a continuous snake-like belt, but it coils on these other accessories to provide them with power. The reason why it is called the “serpentine” belt is the belt acts like a snake.

The most important accessories of your car engine depend on the serpentine belt for their power needs. It is long, black, thin, rubbery, and ribbed on the outside. If you’re looking at your engine block, the serpentine belt is often easy to notice from the front. It is located on the exterior of the engine block. The serpentine belt is a very long single belt which runs continuously. Let’s explore why these functions are so important to your vehicle. The serpentine belt takes mechanical power from the engine and transmits it to several peripheral devices of the vehicle, such as the water pump, power steering pump, alternator, air pump, oil pump, and air conditioning compressor.Ī timing belt, on the other hand, is responsible for keeping the camshaft and crankshaft movements synchronized. Please see this article for how they differ: Timing Belt vs Timing Chain Note: Some vehicles use a timing chain instead of a timing belt. As they’re running, they assist other components of the vehicle. In fact, the engine must be running for these belts to run as well.

However, the serpentine belt and timing belt serve two completely different purposes.īut they both are important parts of the internal combustion engine. Sometimes these two names are used interchangeably by people. Most car owners don’t understand the difference between the serpentine belt and the timing belt.

Honda odyssey timing belt