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Hey Everyone,
Question for you? My son has a 2000 Mustang Convertible V6 we just bought it, took it to a mechanic and he is telling us that this model is supposed to have 2 serpentine Belts is this correct? because he says his car only has 1 and it needs to be replaced and was missing one...
Your mechanic is hopefully wrong but there is a possibility that it indeed does take 2 belts. The standard 3.8 V6 engine will only have one belt. But if it has a supercharger sitting on top, it'll take 2 belts. The supercharger from the Thunderbird is a common mod on these cars. If it has a supercharger, most states insurance rates will rank it as a hot rod and insurance for it is going to be expensive, especially if the son is under 25 years old. There's also the issue with the factory head gaskets. They don't hold up well with a supercharger on them. This engine also has had issues with the cam chain cover gasket leaking coolant into the engine. Be aware it can be catastrophic. Inform the son if he overheats the engine- it's done. While these are normally long life engines, they don't survive much abuse and can be fragile.
Your mechanic is hopefully wrong but there is a possibility that it indeed does take 2 belts. The standard 3.8 V6 engine will only have one belt. But if it has a supercharger sitting on top, it'll take 2 belts. The supercharger from the Thunderbird is a common mod on these cars. If it has a supercharger, most states insurance rates will rank it as a hot rod and insurance for it is going to be expensive, especially if the son is under 25 years old. There's also the issue with the factory head gaskets. They don't hold up well with a supercharger on them. This engine also has had issues with the cam chain cover gasket leaking coolant into the engine. Be aware it can be catastrophic. Inform the son if he overheats the engine- it's done. While these are normally long life engines, they don't survive much abuse and can be fragile.
Insurance company will not know about the supercharger because it is not tired to the vin(they will not cover the supercharger in the event of an accident or a theft, but the car will still be covered), but that 3.8 is a terrible engine. Even after they changed the intake manifold in 1999, its still an under powered turd. My 1st car was a 1994 V6 Mustang, and It had both head gaskets fail at around 40k miles, it was completely stock and I didnt abuse it at all
Another possibility besides the supercharger retrofit would be if somebody had swapped in an engine from a different year that used separate accessory belts.
But yes, the best thing would be to have your husband take a peek, if there are empty pulleys then it would indeed appear to need another belt.
May not be tied to the vin but she lives in Florida and the son being under 25 (maybe) most insurance companies are going to want the agent to inspect the car before they'll accept coverage. It's getting like that in Texas as well. Lifted used trucks, modded cars, are all taking a hit with the insurance companies as they are not safe most often.
Its a regular Mustang convertible 3.8 V6 no supercharge nothing fancy....DH called american muscle and ford and they told him its only supposed to have 1 Belt and that it shouldnt cost 140.00 which is what this mechanic was going to charge us...he is on our insurance and our insurance rates aren't that expensive...believe it or not it is less to insure full coverage than my 2011 New Malibu that I hate so much!!
Its a regular Mustang convertible 3.8 V6 no supercharge nothing fancy....DH called american muscle and ford and they told him its only supposed to have 1 Belt and that it shouldnt cost 140.00
Thats about 5 times what the belt should cost. The belt is around 30 bucks, hell Jiffy Lube will change the belt for around $100 including the cost of the belt
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