So just changed out my belt after reading a lot of horror stories on the 350z forums of belts shredding to pieces after 20-30k miles cause of a faulty auto tensioner which they believed to be a common problem on the HRs, and even after getting new tensoners through warranty the problem came back after 20-30k miles

Well i though my belt was good but still thought $40(OEM) was worth the piece of mind since already have ~57k miles. Well believe it or not the old belt was as good as new with the most minor wear and should have lasted another 20k easy! But since i had already taken it off and had the new one i put the new one on hoping ill be good for another 60k this time around.

So basically before order new belts, check yours carefully and if it has no cracks, shredding or other wear then wait it out imo but at your own risk!

 

^^ +1

I read some of the same info kool and thought I should go check it out too. I'm at about 52K and couldn't find a thing wrong with my serp belt. I figure I'll just keep an eye on it with every oil change until it looks worth changing.

 

^ ya that was my plan as well, but i read this 350z thread a couple days back and became paranoid and ordered the belt, once i saw the belt i was not impressed by the lack of wear and i really could have gotten another 20k it was that good but i wasnt gonna put back the old one after that much effort... in the end a bad impulsive decision but now i should be good until 100k at least!

 

Ahh...It's not at all a waste though; since you shared it here, others will likely benefit from the input. Thanks for taking one for the team.

 

^ hahahah that makes me feel better!

 

A wise man once said...

Are you two gonna need a room?

Sorry, couldn't help it

 

.



" Shucks! "




.

 

LOL that was a great come back mike! It seems as if you have been browsing through the forums day and night since just waiting for such a 'slip up' by VQ!

But why do i have to be the person who's involved in both cases? Watch out guys...

 

Dare i respond?

 

Please dont

 

bahaha . . . I have to agree with you on both of your points there kool.

(I should have known Mike would prevail)
.

.

.


anyway . . . what was this thread about?? Oh yeah, SERPENTINE BELTS !!

I prefer a good Gates or Dayco as a replacement over the factory part.

 

Ya that was the plan but considering that i didnt have any noise issues and the lack of wear on these OEM belts is pretty good(figured out later) i decided to stick with OEM but you cant argue with Gates or Dayco quality.

 

honestly i could have run my belt for another 30k easily too but since i was getting noise from it that's why i went for the change.

as a side story, my brother's 2002 dodge ram shredded it's belt the other day while he was driving around town. i'm sure he never changed his though (he's not as good with vehicle maintenance), but had he invested 20 minutes and $30 to do it he could have avoided a bad day!

 

^ Werd! thats why i ended up putting in the new belt rather than keeping the old one

 

thanks for the help awesome sticky...
but i did remove the pass side air box for easy access... it just involved the same 10mm socked and a flathead screw driver...

thanks again