I will never use a non-oem v belt again! [Archive] (2024)

VegasDaemon

3rd May 2004, 18:54

Deciding to change my belts, I went to Autozone and a pair of new drivebelts. The alternator belt sat fine and I haven't had any problems.

The accessory belt was another issue altogether. No matter how much I checked the proper tightness of the belt, after a bit of time, I'd hear squealing, and any attempt of steering would cause it to squeal some more.

I was hoping my power steering pump's bearings weren't damaged, or my a/c compressor was giving stress on the belt.

On a whim, after seeing Don recommend OEM belts on the forums, I went to my local Mazda dealer and bought a 23 dollar accessory belt. Oi, I hope the different in price would make the difference.

After taking off the belt from autozone, I compared. The OEM belt has a bigger horizontal width, which fits the spacing on the pulleys comfortably. And the OEM belt has a thicker belt, with what appears to be a stronger backing.

I put the belt on, and drove around. I turned on the A/C at various RPM's. I drove a few donuts with the A/C on to "test" it (I was also having some fun).

So far, the OEM belt has surpassed the cruddy AutoZone belt.

So for anyone changing their belts, I will definately give the OEM belts my stamp of approval!

Taylor

Lance Schall

3rd May 2004, 19:06

slotoy

3rd May 2004, 20:38

Vegas (and others),

I used Goodyear rubber (belts & hoses) exclusively in my shop for 13 years without a problem. This is truly one of those areas where "you get what you pay for". BTW you don't have to go to Goodyear to get their products...many auto parts stores stock the Goodyear line for less cost.

Don

3rd May 2004, 20:40

I've experienced what appears to be stretching (actually, it's the sides of the belt wearing slightly so it sits deeper in the grooves which just makes it appear longer) with belts made by Gates, Goodyear, DayCo, NAPA and other famous 'quality' names - Install the belt, tension it properly and get the beginnings of a squeal after 1500 to 2500 miles. Readjust, and the same thing happens after another 2K or so miles, and on and on.

If the OEM belts exhibited this same behavior, the dealerships would be full of folks complaining every few thousand miles while their cars were under warranty, so it just made good sense to me that OEM would be the way to go.

I've had very similar experiences with belts, hoses, wiper blades and other rubber products on Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Mazda cars over the past ~30 years or so - I'm now 'sold' and would never consider buying any of the above items from any other source.

As Lance correctly says, you have to be very aware of what many dealerships will sell you - In addition to marking up the OEM prices by 25% or so (meaning they're selling you a belt for $25 or so which you can easily buy for $12 to $15 at any auto parts store) they've discovered that if THEY get the lesser quality belts locally and then sell them to you at the Mazda price, they can make even MORE money than just marking up the genuine OEM parts. I experienced this firsthand with belts for our last OTM which was a Mitsubishi and got an elcheapo DayCo belt in a Japanese sleeve, which I promptly returned. I never did find a good source for genuine Mitsubishi parts, so when it was totalled, we bought another Mazda - I KNOW where to get genuine Mazda parts at a great price . . . . . Trussville!!

Don

[ 03. May 2004, 20:49: Message edited by: Don ]

Lance Schall

3rd May 2004, 20:50

Cliff Knight

3rd May 2004, 21:20

PrimerGrey

3rd May 2004, 23:52