Never use belt dressings....

[AEA]

I generally shoot a little on a rag and run it on the belt as it moves (never end up with much on the belt just a little coat). Yesterday I shot it directly on the belt and my power steering pully won't shut up (tapping noise goes away after it warms up). Gotta take everything apart and clean the pulleys/belt.

I'm going to use a degreaser on the pulleys, what should I use to clean the belt of this residue?

TIA

 

[paulo57509]

I would think that whatever you use to remove the belt dressing from the belt, would also harm the material the belt is made of.

I think it best to just replace the belt with a new one.

Oh yeah, throw away what's left of the belt dressing.

 

[kenw]

hmmm, i'ver used it for years an never had a problem.

what exact problem were you trying to correct?

 

[Ironduke4]

I have found that a shot of WD40 on the belt while the engine is running works great for quieting a squeaking belt.

 

[AEA]

No noise or any problems with the belt BEFORE BD. A long time ago a mechanic told me that he likes to spray BD on a rag and get a light film on the new belts. I've done it to numerous vehicles with no problem. NEVER have I sprayed it directly on a new/old belt and NEVER will I again.

The sound is like Duct tape being unstuck from a surface over and over again and gets louder/faster with the RPMs. I've got a solvent based aerosol degreaser (in chemical sales and have tons of crap in the back seat) that I used on the PS pulley for a quick fix. Going to get a gatorback, clean the pulleys and call it DONE...

 

[doitmyself]

Belt manufacturers recommend to never use belt dressings. They change the design characteristics and the surface rubber compound, decreasing overall life and effectiveness. Belt dressings are to belts what quick fix oil additives are to engines. They are temporary at best and they mask other problems like worn pulleys/sheaves, etc..

Just maintain proper belt tension and replace it if it becomes glazed, cracked, whatever. They don't last forever and they are cheaper to replace than sheaves, alternators, water pumps, etc..

 

[XS650]

A lot of belt noise is caused by misaligned pullys. Put a straight edge on the pullys and see if they are proper aligned. If not, fix the alignment or you will keep having the problem.

 

[labman]

Like a lot of other things, belt dressing has its uses. I have mainly used it to extend a belt's life. I don't over do it, surprisingly my 20-30 year old can still works.

 

[JohnBrowning]

When you work as a mechanic you will see all kinds of "Junk Heaps" come into the shop. On old engines that leak a lot you can put a new belt on for a customer and have it oil soaked the next weak! So what we used to do was put Castrol Super Clean in a spray bottle adn spray it on the moveing belt and pulleys. Problem fixed. We would have liked to repair the offending gasket that was leaking oil ontot he belt but the customer is your bose sometimes!

If it were my vechile I would have a house handy to house off the Super Clean and repeat as needed. I would not let the Super Clean sit on the moveing belt or pulleys more then 30 seconds as at a time. You should use chemical resistant gloves and wear safety gogles!

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by labman:
Like a lot of other things, belt dressing has its uses. I have mainly used it to extend a belt's life. I don't over do it, surprisingly my 20-30 year old can still works.

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The stuff definitely has it's place.

I find that if my pullys are properly aligned that the belts last 8 or 10 years or more before they start looking bad, although I normally replace them at about 5 years, "just because". Haven't used belt dressing in many years. The can I have on my shelf may be as old as yours.

I don't get my knickers in a knot about belt dressing if a belt gets glazed or makes noise after every thing is adjusted right. Belts tolerate underhood petrolem products form leak fairly well, I doubt a little belt dressing would do much damage. Daily soakings would be another matter.

 

[brianl703]

I use some sort of belt-dressing like stuff (Techspray Rubber Rejuventator) on my laser printer's paper pickup rollers when it starts having paper jams. I have to apply it maybe once every 6 months. At some point I'll just order new pickup rollers..the ones in it are probably 16 years old (it's a LaserJet II made in 1989).

According to the product data sheet it's made of:

dl-limonene…………………………..………… (138-86-3) 65-75% Chlorinated Paraffin…………………...………. (63449-39-8 <30%

 

[1sttruck]

A project that I was on tested belt dressing on different elastomers and we found that it pretty much swelled the 'rubber' and eventually dried out, making the material worse than before, so more belt dressing was needed, it dried out and more was needed.... kind of like heroin for belts :^)

 

[kenw]

"....found that it pretty much swelled the 'rubber' ."

that would be the reason that it stops squeaks.... along with the re-softening of the glazed surface. Which would be exactly what it is supposed to do. It's pretty much only used when needed on older glazed belts until the root cause can be identified and corrected..., not on a weekly or constant basis as might be the MO of the more neurotic.

Many things swell rubber, but you still use them. You just don't soak it in them.