Serpentine belt, tensioner and idle pulleys

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Just a general question for the forum. I know OEM is the safe choice for replacing these parts but are there any benefits (other than cost) to any aftermarket options? Are there higher quality parts out there or is it just degrees of lower quality than OEM?

Thanks.
 
Many of the aftermarket kits use the same OEM suppliers. As an example, the Gates kit I bought for my Impreza had identical pieces in it as what I took off (NTN tensioner, NSK and Koyo bearings, etc), save for the Gates cheapo Chinese-made water pump. I didn't do much price shopping but I assume I paid about half of what the dealer would have charged me for identical items. Do some research and you may get lucky.
 
Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
Did you have a specific application in mind?


Since I just had the AC system replaced on the Escape, I was thinking about replacing these three items. I like what I read about the Continental Elite belts and they are cheaper than motorcraft but I don't know if they are as good. Same thing for the tensioner and idler pulleys.
 
In my experience if you go with a name brand such as Dayco, Gates or Continental (was goodyear) you won't have any problems with belts or tensioners..
 
Originally Posted By: nwjones18
In my experience if you go with a name brand such as Dayco, Gates or Continental (was goodyear) you won't have any problems with belts or tensioners..


are they in any way better?
 
Originally Posted By: badtlc
Originally Posted By: nwjones18
In my experience if you go with a name brand such as Dayco, Gates or Continental (was goodyear) you won't have any problems with belts or tensioners..


are they in any way better?
often they appear to be from the same plant as the OE stuff but without a OE part number on it
 
It is very platform dependent. For my Asian cars, anything Dayco or Gates is likely Chinese and of poor quality compared to the OEM. For those cars I either buy Toyota or Koyo. For my BMW the Conti belts are made in Germany and are OEM but who knows that they are for your application.
 
it looks like the Continental Elite is made in China for my application.
 
Those items for my F150 the Gates were Canadian tagged and looked identical to the ford parts - the ford part#. In general steer clear of CHI parts if you can and you'll be better off.
 
I've had good luck with Goodyear (now Continental) Gatorback belts in multiple cars. Their unique rib pattern is more tolerant of misaligned or worn pulleys. Bando is also a good brand. Can't comment on tensioners and idlers since I've never had to replace one.
 
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We stock Continental Elite brand at work and have used them for fifteen years plus back when we started was still made and owned by Goodyear. I have only seen belts made in USA Canada and Mexico I have never seen any part made in china at all and all the pulleys and tensioners are made in US or Canada. Own noise complaints have been way way less than when we used gates or dayco we really trust this brand and its all we use.
 
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Originally Posted By: vssjim
We stock Continental Elite brand at work and have used them for fifteen years plus back when we started was still made and owned by Goodyear. I have only seen belts made in USA Canada and Mexico I have never seen any part made in china at all and all the pulleys and tensioners are made in US or Canada. Own noise complaints have been way way less than when we used gates or dayco we really trust this brand and its all we use.


It looks like they have several asian locations now, including China.

http://www.veyance.com/WhyChoose2.aspx?id=744
 
I believe that as long as you get a serp belt that is made of EPDM, it will be a quality part regardless of COO.

For the pulley and tensioner, the bearing's COO is more important and I've found that Chinese produced bearings are far more likely to fail early.
 
For the serpentine belt tensioner I use Motorcraft branded which is really made by Litens in (Canada or the US, I forget which). And yes they are really good. When I have looked at other brands (Dorman or Dayco)they have a cheap look and feel, don't fit the same, and use cheap plastic pulleys that I don't like. I have used Dayco plain idlers, which are fine if metal. I am tempted to try a Goodyear, since I suspect that they are good, but I would like to see one first.
 
Originally Posted By: mclasser
I've had good luck with Goodyear (now Continental) Gatorback belts in multiple cars. Their unique rib pattern is more tolerant of misaligned or worn pulleys. Bando is also a good brand. Can't comment on tensioners and idlers since I've never had to replace one.

Dayco also makes a belt for worn or misaligned pulleys. They called it the "W-rib" belt.

It looks much different from the Goodyear belt.
 
For what looks are worth, if you compare the photos on Rockauto, the Motorcraft, Gates, AC Delco, and Four Seasons tensioners all look the same. Dayco and Continental are a little different.

My only experience has been with GM, but I ordered a Gates kit recently (Belt, Tensioner, and Idler) because the parts looked exactly like the AC Delcos online. Both OEM and Gates pieces were made in Canada, and both idlers had bearings marked "NTN Canada." The new belt was made in Mexico. The Gates A/C tensioner also looked identical to OEM.

The original parts with 108k miles are still in good enough shape to keep as spares. I replaced them because the pulleys were a little rough and I figured the belt was due after 15 years. The engine is a lot quieter now.
 
Thanks.

I ended up choosing a conti elite (gatorback) belt and went with OEM idler pulley. I have never done anything like this before but will attempt the install this weekend.

My tensioner was replaced about 15k miles ago so I'm hoping that is fine.
 
Got the replacements installed this weekend. Went fairly smooth for a first try. It appears the slight slipping sound I was getting with my AC on and stopped while in "Drive" has gone away. I hope it stays that way.
 
Id personally get OEM pulleys and tensioner, but aftermarket belt (Dayco or Gates.)

Just replaced the serp. belt on the Volvo over the weekend with a Dayco. I'd consider it a less popular application and the belt was US made.

Wish I could say the same about the [censored] Mann air filter I installed.
mad.gif
 
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