Threw my serpentine belt today

[Drifter]

Check the belts (visual) when you check oil. Ive run many belts over 100k in central Texas. Foolish maybe but havent had one bust loose in over 20 years

 

[nickaluch]

I'm running the OE belt 17 years

 

[Bladecutter]

I changed the belt on my 2014 CX-5 back in 2021 when I gave it to my wife's daughter at ~90k miles.
Original belt and original tensioner.
Tensioner had just started to weep, so it got replaced, too.
Old belt was still in good shape, being 8 years old.

Honestly, I feel that Mazda's quality has been decreasing ever since they got into bed with Toyota.
Their business decisions have been very suspect with Toyota holding the purse.

 

[VersatileGuy]

I changed the belt on my 2014 CX-5 back in 2021 when I gave it to my wife's daughter at ~90k miles.
Original belt and original tensioner.
Tensioner had just started to weep, so it got replaced, too.
Old belt was still in good shape, being 8 years old.

Honestly, I feel that Mazda's quality has been decreasing ever since they got into bed with Toyota.
Their business decisions have been very suspect with Toyota holding the purse.

Being closet Fords once upon a time wasn't that better. And one guy I knew had a Mazda 6 in fine cosmetic condition blow a power steering pump. He never fixed it.

 

[JHZR2]

That does seem really low. When I did the TB on our odyssey at 100k, I changed the serp belt. Both it and the TB looked as new.

I’d be concerned about a bearing or something with an issue…

 

[Elkins45]

That does seem really low. When I did the TB on our odyssey at 100k, I changed the serp belt. Both it and the TB looked as new.

I’d be concerned about a bearing or something with an issue…

The water pump has a separate belt and it has electric steering. The serpentine belt only runs the alternator and AC, and the tensioner is new so there are really only two possibilities. I wish I had told him I wanted to see the old tensioner.

 

[The Critic]

Mazda seems to still use black licorice for belts; I don't think their material is EPDM.

Always check those belts at every LOF and replace at the first sign of cracking. They DO crack.

 

[Elkins45]

Mazda seems to still use black licorice for belts; I don't think their material is EPDM.

Always check those belts at every LOF and replace at the first sign of cracking. They DO crack.

LOF? Lube, oil, filter?

 

[The Critic]

LOF? Lube, oil, filter?

yes

 

[drtyler]

Mazda seems to still use black licorice for belts; I don't think their material is EPDM.

Always check those belts at every LOF and replace at the first sign of cracking. They DO crack.

Is there a case for an aftermarket belt here, or stick with OE?

 

[Elkins45]

Is there a case for an aftermarket belt here, or stick with OE?

I put an OEM on it because I bought it at the same time as an OEM tensioner, but the next one will probably be whatever they have in stock at NAPA.

 

[Dave Hess]

I was about 12 miles from home on a secluded rural road driving my 2016 Mazda6 with 75k miles. I had stopped about five miles before so my wife could run into the store, so although I had been driving for an hour previously it had just recently been started again. Suddenly I felt the AC turn hot. It’s close to 100° today so we noticed pretty quickly. I glanced down to see the battery light was on. I’ve seen this once before when an alternator failed, but a battery light combined with dead AC made me correctly guess either the belt had broken or the computer knew it wasn’t charging and disabled the AC. There was no indication of overheating. Fortunately I have a new battery, and the water pump is driven by a separate belt on this car, so we managed to make it home without it dying.

When I popped the hood I saw the serpentine belt was still in the engine compartment but was off the alternator and compressor. It was too hot to reach down and check if it is still intact, but eight years and 75k is really early for a belt failure. I’m thinking the tensioner must be failing and that's what let it jump the pulleys. The hydraulic tensioners for these years are known for failing early around 60k. Time to spend some money I guess.

Hmm.

I need to change tensioner on our Mazda.

 

[Dave Hess]

Tensioner is the same for both engines, 197.99
The water pump belt is 22.25
The serp belt is 46.37

Thanks.

 

[drtyler]

Thanks.

INA FT01291 tensioner is $42 + shipping on rockauto. INA supplies the Mazda OE version.

 

[lbhsbz]

I was about 12 miles from home on a secluded rural road driving my 2016 Mazda6 with 75k miles. I had stopped about five miles before so my wife could run into the store, so although I had been driving for an hour previously it had just recently been started again. Suddenly I felt the AC turn hot. It’s close to 100° today so we noticed pretty quickly. I glanced down to see the battery light was on. I’ve seen this once before when an alternator failed, but a battery light combined with dead AC made me correctly guess either the belt had broken or the computer knew it wasn’t charging and disabled the AC. There was no indication of overheating. Fortunately I have a new battery, and the water pump is driven by a separate belt on this car, so we managed to make it home without it dying.

When I popped the hood I saw the serpentine belt was still in the engine compartment but was off the alternator and compressor. It was too hot to reach down and check if it is still intact, but eight years and 75k is really early for a belt failure. I’m thinking the tensioner must be failing and that's what let it jump the pulleys. The hydraulic tensioners for these years are known for failing early around 60k. Time to spend some money I guess.

If the alternator uses a decoupler pulley...check that out. Serpentine belts should last 150k -200K miles

 

[Cruisin'n5thgear]

I replaced our belt around 150k miles/8 years on our 2016 Mazda6, and it was still solid although I could see some wear and cracking in the ribs of the belt. Just a data point for the discussion.

 

[Bill7]

I just replaced my serpentine belt a few weeks ago in my 2008 Toyota Corolla. At the time, it had about 64,000 miles on it.
It was making a squeak at cold startup. My mechanic initally sprayed the belt and the squeak went away, but then a few weeks after that
it started squeaking again. I paid the $40 to an online Toyota dealer and got the Mitsuboshi OEM belt. But 16 years and 64,000 miles is not bad for the first OEM belt.