Hey guys recently purchased some new belts to replace the old ones which were worn out. I got the old ones off, but when I went to place the new ones they won't fit. I compared the old and new ones and they seem to be the same size. Is there something I am missing?

Sounds like you cut the old belt off and never loosened the tensioners?

Or you have the belt routing incorrect.

Here's the tensioners.

Nope I loosened the tensioners and removed the belt without cutting it and followed the diagram of how they went, but it won't fit at all. I was able to put the old belts back on with no problem.

And you're sure they're the same size as the existing belts? The only thing I can think is either the tensioner needs to be loosened more OR you don't have the belts into the grooves of all the pulleys and it's making them feel smaller than they actually are.

I put them side to side when I took the old ones off and they seemed to be the same size unless I'm missing it because they're a hair off. I loosened the tensioner more too and nothing, but like I said I was able to put the old ones back on with no problem. The best I can think of is the new ones were manufactured incorrectly and are slightly off. But not sure if this was normal

What part number exactly for the new belts?

Most people use Gates belts because they have a great reputation and aren't too expensive. Parts numbers are:

K060465RPM for the main drive belt
K040372RPM for the AC belt

It's also possible you bought the belt for an HR motor which doesn't have one of the idler pulleys. A common mod on the G35 is to delete the top idler and use the HR belt, if your pulley configuration isn't EXACTLY like that picture I posted earlier and you have that top idler deleted then you will need the belt from the HR motor.

I take it that is to reduce parasitic drag?

Yeah and to remove a useless idler that has a bearing that will fail someday.

EDIT: It's a real pain in the *** to get that thing off with the rev-up motor though, the castings for the cam adjusters sort of blocks it into place.

thanks I'll check these out

I have ordered Continental belts and pulleys for three different cars in the past few years, and the parts have been a crapshoot. About half of them were the correct size even though they cross referenced with their catalog.

I think Continental bought the Gatorback brand from Goodyear in the US.