300tdi Fan Belt Disintegrating at 1000 Miles !

Hi All , Just looked at my fan belt today and it's starting to break up along the length of it , after only 1000 miles . I noticed shortly after I put it on there appeared a lot of " rubber maggots " on the smooth side and on the pulley wheel , but that cleared away til now . Any idea whats causing this before I renew the belt ? Thanks , Gerry .

If you pop the belt off, do all the ancillary pulleys turn freely? Water pump / alternator / tensioner?

Cheers

Check your water pump, power steering pump and alternator pulleys .. My water pump bearing went, the pulley tipped over a bit and effectively cut the end row off the belt.

A misaligned pulley can cause issues like this and squeaking. Run the engine and check that all the pulleys run true and the belt doesn't wander on them, if it does have a close look at the offending pulley. Next stop engine and take the belt off and check each pulley for any in/out or rocking movement. A common issue can be the belt tensioner, there is a plastic / PTFE washer that sits between the fixed and the moving aluminium parts, this washer can wear and cause the pulley to become misaligned. Best way to check that is to remove the tensioner and look at the thickness of the washer all the way around the tensioner, if there is a thin spot replace the tensioner (the washer cant be replaced)

+1 to all the above

Just checked . The tensioner pulley is wobbling , new tensioner and belt on the way . Thanks for the guidance .