Ironicially, a week before the incident I was on the forums looking for maintenance recommendations, I have 165,000 on my 07 RDX and the serpentine belt was at the top of the list. A week later, as I was pulling into the driveway, I felt a shake and “she” started screeching, and then smoke was coming from under the hood. The belt was melted, and all over everything, connected to or near the tensioner. So ordered the parts for the belt and tensioner, any suggestions on what else I can/ should replace, everything is factory original.
thanks for any suggestions

 

you probably should go through the car with a fine tooth comb to look for anything else that is about to fail or is failing.

that is the art of maintenance or having visual intelligence...or the art of looking for bad components.
the belt fire could have been prevented if one takes a look around the engine bay to see or hear anything out of the norm...which takes experience. years of looking at engines.

 

so aside from condescension, I take it you have nothing of substance to offer.
Thank you anyway Mr. Moderator, have a nice day.

 

I have ~155k on my '07...

check the radiator, specifically where the transmission lines connect up for the cooling function(wonderful design by honda), mine broke/failed right at the line and I had transmission fluid bleeding out and had to pull over. luckily no major damage other than replacing the radiator...

I've also replaced the starter and alternator due to failure...

water pump, timing chain/tensioner inspection, valve adjustment and spark plugs are up next..but i'll let a mechanic handle that.

 

Jmathew34,
Thanks for the tips, I appreciate it. I pulled the fan already, I will make sure I do my due diligence with the radiator and hose lines too.

 

I’ll start a new thread that will help you and others out

 

Thanks CSmoney, that will be greatly appreciated. So far def. have to replace tensioner and belt. Going to replace alternator, cleaning helped, but I don't want to take the chance with all the shrapnel (rubber pieces) that went inside it.

 

You're welcome, it has bearing so the alternator is good to change if it's the original anyways...the new thread is live check it out and make a comment.

 

I mean, one really has to inspect their vehicle to make sure all components are playing nicely.

half of the maintenance minders are visual inspections.
inspect brakes
inspect suspension
inspect belts
etc.etc.

if one is looking at the engine for the very first time, it will be hard to spot items that are needing repair.
with experience (like anything in life) one can get better at spotting things that are about to fail.

so go through the whole car with a fine tooth comb to find things that are broken or are about to break. Keep doing it until spotting failures is second nature.
Sometimes, spotting failures will be easy...like bent metal or missing bolts. or for example, brake pads. one can easily look at pads to see if there is enough meat left.

another example would be like the member above who stated the radiator lines corroded off. One can catch it early!! but one just has to look for signs of wear or signs of failure.
Most times, one wouldnt know where to look until the component actually fails....
like for example your belt failure. or the coolant lines...

its just the art of visual intelligence...putting together clues to solve the problem.

a personal example; my car is exhibiting a strange non-confident sway when I turn left. I suspect a broken suspension component...which component? I have absolutely no idea until I get under the car tomorrow to look for the failed part. I will be looking for a disconnected/bent/broken bar or spring... But all I know as of right now, when I take left turns, the car sways and doesnt feel tight.

 

LOL how everyone gets so pissed at Justin for telling the truth without sugarcoating it.

 

Never had a problem...no idea

 

There was a member here recently who was concerned about a siezed engine; turned out his issue was actually the bearings in the AC compressor clutch had gone and that wheel had locked up. Something was causing your belt to squeal and then melt; you definitely need to find the culprit before just replacing the belt and tensioner (unless the tensioner bearing was the part that failed).

Check every other wheel the belt touches until you find the root cause.

 

A/C compressors and clutch's in these RDX’s were complete trash.

 

Agreed