Longest serpentine belt life

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ToyotaNSaturn

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A couple weeks ago, I changed the serpentine belt on my old Saturn. It had 55K on it. Good thing I changed it when I did as it had a rather large crack going all the way across the belt. Doubtful it had much more life in it. This belt was some aftermarket I purchased at AutoZone a couple years ago.

It got me to thinking...how many miles have others seen on other belts? How long has yours lasted?
 
I have the original belt and tensioner on my 2001 ford windstar at 73Kmi. The dealer didn't even flag it when they changed out the p-steering pump some months ago. It looks good, but I'm changing it soon anyway.

Joel
 
I just asked the same questions a few weeks ago. I settled on the Dayco Polycog's being a combination best wear & quietest performer. Got mine at Advanced Auto Parts. I think Pep Boys has them also.
 
165K on my 85 Omni before I sold it in 96. I bought the car new and never changed the belt. There was nothing in the service manual about changing it! I don't recommend going that long though.
 
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Cracks are not a sign of incipient doom, with modern belts.
Who know, you may have 25,000 left on it, or more.
You should get at least 50,000 miles out of a new belt, and usually a lot more. I replace things like that early so that is doesn't bite me later when it is inconvenient.
 
I cnanged the Jeep's belt out at 75k. The auto tensioner sure makes it easier than the old school way...
 
Quote:

I changes mine at 35k and keep the old one as a spare. I now know that my spare belt will fit and how to change it.

Click to expand...


My experience has been that old belts kept as spares continue to deteriorate at a good rate when kept as spares. They are lot drier looking with deeper cracks after a couple of years of storage.
 
For what it's worth, a Dayco would not fit on my daughter's 3.0 Ford Ranger. Too short. Correct application as listed by both Advance Auto and on Dayco's website catalog.

I returned it and got a Gates at O'Reilly Auto (more expensive). It slipped right on like it was made for it.

Your experience probably will be different; others when I posted this result at a Ranger Forum site replied thay had had no problem with Dayco.

I am still running the Goodyear Gatorback belts on my 89 Ford 302 at about 149,000 miles that were on there when I got it at about 96,000. I plan to replace them in the spring -- with Goodyear or Gates.

In my experience the factory Chrysler belts are junk. At the first hint of any noise I replaced it on the 02 Jeep Liberty with a Goodyear. I had gone through two factory belts replaced on warranty by the dealer on the Dodge Caravan traded in on the Jeep -- eventually replaced with an aftermarket belt that gave me no more problems.
 
85K on my 01 Nissan Sentra. The ribs tend to deteriorate but that doesn't indicate any problem. I believe they are good for at least a 100K miles unless there is another problem with one of the pulleys or alignment.
 
I usually change the belts on the 4 cars I care for every 60k.

When our '02 Chevy Tahoe got his belts replaced, he also took an A/C tensioner assy (it was SHOT where it pivots) and a main idler stationary assy due to loose clearances. Really surprised me as the Tahoe has such a slow revving engine.

The BMW OTOH, took only belts; the idlers were all smooth and quiet which is suprising considering the elevated RPM's it operates at relative to the Chevy.

The old belts were in pretty good shape on both cars , currently sitting in the garage as spares.
 
just a note on the 3.0 ranger engine. autozone and advance auto have it totally fubar. In fact they list the same size
for both the 3.0 and 4.0 engine.. the 4.0 requires a belt several inches shorter...
 
My '89 Mazda MX-6 had the original alternator/AC belts on it when I finally was forced to change them in 1999 due to alternator failure. They were complete toast and I'm surprised they made it that far.
Approx. 130k on them at that point.
 
Quote:

A couple weeks ago, I changed the serpentine belt on my old Saturn. It had 55K on it. Good thing I changed it when I did as it had a rather large crack going all the way across the belt. Doubtful it had much more life in it. This belt was some aftermarket I purchased at AutoZone a couple years ago.

It got me to thinking...how many miles have others seen on other belts? How long has yours lasted?

Click to expand...

Got 63k out of the original one in the Saturn. It was replaced when the alternator failed (yes, at 63k miles) with a Dayco belt.

Then at 88k miles, the tensioner decided to go bust so a Gatorback went in along with a new tensioner.
 
I've usually gotten 60k+ out of the OEM on most vehicles. My jeeps I never noticed them going "bad" ..just saw too many cracks and changed them. My Caravan always included noise as the indicator of being due for replacement. None of the aftermarket belts lasted as long as the OEM. Not always a fair comparison since you typically aren't going to put on the second 60k at the same rate that you did the first. People tend to buy a new vehicle once one is paid for. They also tend to do 15k a year (if starting as a younger family) ..so the next 60k is usually a little harder on the belt (more starts per mile).
 
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