Is it more important to change antifreeze or serpentine belt?

I don't know what the temp. is where you are but with it being winter I would go with antifreeze first. A serpentine belt will run a long time even if it has cracks in it. if it brake's your are stopped in your tracks. but no major damage.

if the block cracks from freezing it will cost a lot to fix you car.but you can get an antifreeze tester at an auto parts store to see what temp. your antifreeze is good for. to help choose you option.

to check you antifreeze

1. make sure you car is cold

2. take off the radiator cap

use the antifreeze tester to check you antifreeze

Serpentine Belt - If this fails, you may lose power steering, charging system, and air conditioning. The engine may overheat, become hard to steer and the battery will eventually go dead. A broken serpentine belt can also cause the timing belt to jump and do internal engine damage.

Engine Coolant (Antifreeze) - Coolant loses it's ability to protect the engine against corrosion and freezing. It should be replaced every 30,000 miles or so, depending on the type of coolant. It's unlikely the coolant will "fail", it just offers less protection.

My recommendation is to have the shop tell you which is more urgent. There are different levels severity when it comes to a part needing replacement. I use the 1-5 system, 1 = needs replacement now, may fail very soon! 5 = brand new part! Have them tell you the severity of the condition. A good shop will prioritize this for you, if they wont, consider a second opinion.

If the antifreeze is over 2 years old, I recommend having it changed before the serpentine belt. Buy a new serpentine belt for your car and if it breaks, you'll have it for the road repair service to replace on the road.

Here's how to change it: First draw a diagram of the pulley locations and the routing of the belt. Or if it's still there, use the diagram that was stuck on by the factory. Take off the old belt - DO NOT CUT IT OFF - if you've purchased the wrong new belt your going to need the old one to get back to the store. There is a belt tensioner pulley in there. It can be retracted using a 3/8 or 1/2'' ratchet handle. Just the handle - no socket required - there should be a square hole on the pulley bracket that the handle will fit into. This bracket has a fairly strong spring in it so be carefull. General rule of thumb. Grooved pulleys receive the grooved side of the belt and smooth pulleys have the smooth side of the belt run over them. Don't screw this up or you will have accessories running backwards and that not a good thing.

Changing the antifreeze in your cooling system is a good idea and will promote longer life of your engine. You should try to have this done (with a flush) every couple of years.

However, if the mechanic told you your serpentine belt needs replacing, you should give that priority. If this belt is cracked and/or badly worn and ends up breaking, you will be stuck towing your car to a garage. This will mean more expense and probable inconvenience. If you trust that this mechanic told you the truth (or you looked and the belt looks bad), I would definitely do that one first!

You probably don't need either. They make their money by ripping off the public.

How long has the belt/antifreeze been in the car?

If longer than a few years, get the antifreeze changed first b/c if it's bad you risk having the water freeze and the block cracking or the water pump being damaged. If the belt breaks at least you can drive it a mile or so afterwards.

You can buy anti-freeze and do it yourself. If the coolant that is in it looks nasty, then you might want to drain it, flush it out, and then fill it with new coolant. Either get pre-mixed (water/coolant) or buy 100% coolant and mix it yourself (never run 100% coolant by itself, and NEVER run just water).

As far as the serpentine belt, if you are mechanically inclined, it usually isn't that difficult - there will be a tensioner that you have to figure out how to release, and the belt just comes off (you might have to remove some stuff to get to it though).

I usually just wait for belts like that to fail (in most cases the belt doesn't fail - it will be the tensioner, or one of the accessories that will fail, and take the belt with it.

If you don't want to mess with it, call around and get quotes.

Have you been adding water to your radiator? If not, I suspect it's okay. You can have it checked elsewhere ( it's only a specific gravity check). Anti freeze is now used all year and I never change mine. You might consider adding a can of antirust and water pump lubricant .

Hi

You can buy anti freeze and put it in yourself