What's a normal lifespan for one of these belts? I've had my car about 7 mos. and 15,000 miles, and it's already started squealing this morning.

 

any cracks? squealing could mean replacement, but not for sure.

 

Not that I noticed, didn't seem to be much play in the belt either. I'll have the dealer take a look.

 

if it looks in good shape it cought some dirt, if its worn or cracked replace.


put baby powder to make it stop squeaking,

 

It's unlikely that your serpentine is bad already unless it's not tracking properly. Assuming you haven't made any modifications or had any of the pulleys moved or replaced, you might want to make sure that the squeak is coming from the belt and not from one of the pulleys.

One way to check this is to take a small bar of soap and rub it on the belt while it's running. You only have to hold it there for a second, and if it's sqeaking, the squeak will immediately disappear. Eventually when the soap wears off, the squeak will come back.

It's possible that your idler pulley has a bad bearing or the tensioner spring on the idler pulley is messed up. If the squeak doesn't go away with the soap, take it back for some warranty work.