Amur_

So I just snapped my 3rd alternator belt since last August. All 3 were Gates belts. I don't have any aftermarket pulleys or any major mods. My girl's a plain-Jane N/A FC. I hit all the belts regularily with dressing and keep them taut. There's nothing on the equipment/care and maintenance end to cause these early failures.

The local Mazda dealer is balking at my attempt to return the belt, insisting that something under the hood is wrong. Like hell there is!

I'd been putting off getting a Bando from Mazdatrix cuz shipping instantly doubles the price. After the belt failed last week I ordered a new belt from them online. One of Mazdatrix's guys called me the day after I placed the order to confirm the shipping addy. I asked him if the belt was in fact a Bando (gotta be sure) and I heard him ask somebody nearby about it. While that person was answering somebody else called from across the room, "Stay away from Gates!"
I'm planning on going back to the Mazda dealership tomorrow after work. If anyone else has any gripes/horror stories/whatever about the Gates alternator belt, I'd be grateful if you'd share 'em. Every bit of ammo will help. And maybe if Mazda gets enough returns they'll stop carrying this garbage.

ttyl,
Amur_

rico05

I use the Mitusboshi ones I got with my car. Never failed me once! They were in the spare tire area!

jeff_oner

now that you mention that i have one of those too, never changed it since i bought the car(but i only have had it for 6 months)

Six Rotors

iTrader: (17)

Mazda Canada do not supply Mitsu belts for the alternator(the other3 are).I have had no trouble with my alternator belts(2xTII,total of about 100,00kms).

Amur_

So where can I find a Mitsubishi belt for the alternator? Sounds promising - they make some of the best home entertainemtn equip, so why not give their automotive lineup a try?

>>>I use the Mitusboshi ones I got with my car. Never failed me once! They were in the spare tire area!

>>now that you mention that i have one of those too, never changed it since i bought the car(but i only have had it for 6 months)

I'd assume that Mitsubishi doesn't make belts specifically for the RX-7 (what's the point in producing parts for your competition's products?) so maybe someone has found a belt that xfers cleanly (and it's still there for you to find.) Could you give me a parts # or something off of the belt itself?

ttyl,
Amur_

supergoat

Not Mitsubishi. It's Mitsuboshi. It's a different company. I use them and they work great.

Icemark

I agree with the dealer, three belts in 9 months says that there is a pully mis-alinged, the belts were damaged when installed, or they have been improperly tensioned.

If Gates belts broke as often as they are for you the company would out of biz darn quick.

Go get a belt from your local auto parts store and try that, but to me it sure sounds like something is worn or wrong with the pullys in your car.

Do you have a picture of the broken belt? Or can you describe the break? How are you setting tension?

hypntyz7

Gates belts along with all the others are junk. Go with dayco or dont go at all :-)

cymfc3s

yah, they stopped selling the bandos. If you can get the bandos, those work the best.

turboren

I have used various types of belts, and none seem to be any better or worse than the others. Then again, I stay away from the cheapie bargain brands, too. If it says "made by Gates" or similar, avoid like the plague and get a real belt.

I have only used "belt dressing" once, and the one time I did, the belt broke shortly thereafter. I would definitely not recommend using the stuff, as none of the belt manufacturers, nor none of the auto manufacturers, recommend using it. I think something in the mixture weakens the belt somehow, i.e. the adding of friction causes undue heat stress on the belt.

Ren

RETed

I've been running Gates (rebadged Napa and Car Quest belts) belts ever since I've owned my FC.&nbsp I've never had any problems with them.&nbsp The key to proper life out of these "toothed" v-belts is to keep checking tension - the "toothed" v-belts are known to slack very quickly.

With your problem of killing belts, I'd be more suspicious of a warped/misaligned pulley or excessive drag from a bad waterpump or bad alternator.

Those Bando belts don't have the "teeths" so the tend to hold up a little better and hide problems described above.


-Ted

Amur_

>>Not Mitsubishi. It's Mitsuboshi. It's a different company. I use them and they work great.

Sorry. I hadn't heard of Mitsuboshi, and knowing that Mitsubishi makes cars I assumed that you'd mispelled it.

>>I agree with the dealer, three belts in 9 months says that there is a pully mis-alinged, the belts were damaged when installed, or they have been improperly tensioned.

And the dealer has also suggested this. The thing is: 1) I've had this engine for 2 years now and never had a prob with an alternator belt until the Gates started going in last August and 2) none of the other belts currently under the hood have failed or shown signs of damage/wear/whatever.
I did not mishandled the belt or expose it to any unpleasant conditions or language prior to installation. ;D To the best of my knowledge, belt tension has always been properly maintained. The 1st Gates belt was installed by my mechanic. He warned that the belt might not last long (because it was a Gates) when I picked up the car.

>>Go get a belt from your local auto parts store and try that

I talked to my mechanic about his experience with other belts when the 1st Gates failed. He looks after a number of local rice rockets, including the shop's own TII, and he hasn't found anything other than Bando that holds up. The Goodyear Gatorback belt (from Canadian Tire,) the Dayco with top cogs, they even got some 'performance' belt from some local shop for their TII (they were told that the belt would definitely last) and the belt snapped at their next race, killing the engine. The guarantee on the belt saw the company buying them a replacement engine!

>>I have only used "belt dressing" once, and the one time I did, the belt broke shortly thereafter.

I tried the Canadian Tire crap once, but I might as well have pissed on the belt for all the good it did. Now I'm using Sprayon 607 Belt Dressing. Seems like good stuff, leaving the belt a little tacky after application.

>>I would definitely not recommend using the stuff, as none of the belt manufacturers, nor none of the auto manufacturers, recommend using it. I think something in the mixture weakens the belt somehow, i.e. the adding of friction causes undue heat stress on the belt.

I haven't heard that before.

>>With your problem of killing belts, I'd be more suspicious of... excessive drag from a bad waterpump or bad alternator.
The alternator is a 'new' remanufactured unit that has been working perfectly. While I believe that the water pump is good, I'll ask my mechanic if he would give it a quick check...

>>Those Bando belts don't have the "teeths" so the tend to hold up a little better and hide problems described above.
The Gates are also smooth. When the 1st one failed after 5 weeks (and I initially wondered if the alternator had somehow cacked) my mechanic told me it was the belt. I didn't believe it until he held the belt up and then twisted it inside out. It was cracked and fragged all to hell. When he let it flop back, it looked fine...

I had to put something in the car after the belt snapped, so they gave me the only one they had, a Goodyear Gatorback. The guy behind the counter that day did up a receipt but left a note at the bottom saying, 'To be discussed,' and didn't charge me. But he did bitch a little. The parts manager was there Wednesday; he was quite pleasant and he didn't charge me for the Gatorback.
5 more days 'til the Bando arrives. I'm planning to slap it in right away and keep the Gatorback in the rear just in case...

ttyl,
Amur_

RETed

If you have access to the car, this is really easy to check.&nbsp Try and rotate the alternator pulley and check that it spins smoothly and freely.&nbsp The same goes for the water pump pulley, but this will spin a little easier than the alternator pulley.

Good luck with the Bando belt!



-Ted

ZachSpazz

Your problem is in the belt dressing. I used it to get my belts nice n' quiet and they broke within a few months of application. Hell, I was stranded on the side of I-75 because my alternator belt decided to go out on me. Stop using that dressing and I'll guarantee that your belts will last.

Amur_

Okay, so the next great experiment will be no more belt dressing. The Sprayon goo is shelved until further notice. However, the Bando belt arrived yesterday and I'm hoping to find time to put it in tonight (gotta chase some patches to my kick panels first - winter sucks,) so the Gatorback won't get a chance to prove itself for a while.

I haven't found anyone up here yet who carries Mitsuboshi alternator belts for the RX-7. Would one of you please post a # or something from your own? I'd rather not order another belt from California if I can help it. After getting thumped by the exchange rate and UPS shipping, UPS thumped me again when I picked up the parcel, charging me another $20 for 'brokerage' (which they said was a charge for getting my parcel through customs - what did they do? Sneak it across in a hollowed-out Bible?) So I've paid $60 for a belt that would have been about $20 (after tax) had the damn dealership still been carrying it. WTF!

Btw, I also ordered a new power steering belt during my last visit to the dealer (current one is stretched to the max after 2 years of service.) It came in today and it's Japanese. Why would Mazda only jump manufacturers for the alt belts instead of for all the belts? One guy at the dealership was trying to feed me a line about how Mazda switched to Gates because they were getting too many complaints from customers about the cost of Japanese belts. Well, the Bandos were only a few $ more than the aftermarket ones, and who among us would mind paying an extra $ or 2 for a superior OEM part? Something's not right here.

ttyyl,
Amur_

FPrep2ndGenRX7

I used the brand the Auto Zone sold and those things are more rubber than anything. They stretched so much that I had to get a new belt within a couple of weeks. That one stretched just as much. I switched to a Gates brand for all three belts and ran it three years until the engine locked up. I didn't see anything wrong with my belts.

Pinfield357

kinda wierd for me to see this post now cause my alternator belt kinda shreded itself just yesterday. i went to advanced auto and picked one up there that had a few (cant remember exact #) year free replacement. i think it is a dayco or soemthing like that. the one that broke had NOTHING written on it it was just plain black along with the rest of them so i changed them all.

Brian_TII

I've used Dayco "regular" belts on my old N/A RX-7 and had no problems with them (over 20k miles). Also I've used the Gates (Napa) belt on my Maxima and been quite impressed with them. The last set had been on the car for nearly 100k miles and were only starting to crack. I've since replaced them with more gates belts and had no issues so far. The NAPA timing belt on my Maxima went 85k mlies with no issues. (supposed to only last 60k) I really don't think there is anything wrong with a gates belt, I think the problem is that nasty goo....

neofreak

I had a gates belt break in less than a month, replaced it with something else from kragen and its worked fine for a year or so.

10TH_ANNIV_T2

You know, over 14 years owning 6 RX-7s, I have never once broken a belt. Replaced many with whatever AutoZone, BigWheel Rossi, Whitlock carried when I first got the cars. Logged close to 200k miles total on them.

Never had to use any belt dressing either. Coincidence? Maybe. Using Kelley Springfield belts mostly, one Goodyear right now. I'd look for burs on the pulleys, and the alignment & tension suggestions already suggested.

Greg O.

scathcart

Yeah, it's the belt dressing. That stuff is basically oil, and oil breaks down the rubber compound in belts, but it sure makes em look purdy!
Try spraying the stuff on a blown up balloon... POP!
If your belts squeel without dressing, they aren't set correctly.
Sean Cathcart

Amur_

The p/s belt came in. And guess what - Mitsuboshi. WTF?! Can they not get all the belts from one place???

ttyl,
Amur_

inflatablepets

A belt is a belt. I agree with Mark. I have Dayco Topcog belts. They work fine. From my years of experience with cars, riding mowers etc, is that you have a problem that is causing the belts to go bad. From what I have seen belts don't usually stretch either. They wear deeper into the pulleys. I am referring to v belts here. I think that you have worn pulleys or somthing is not lined up properly. I wouldn't use belt dressing either. However a substitute for the belt dressing compound is Ivory bar soap. It does work and it's an old time mechanic trick.

Makenzie71

I hate gates belts. For some reason they were on my FC when I bought it, and on my Supra. Both cars suffered from them.

On a side and slightly o/t note...on time cruising down I45 my Gates alt belt broke and left me stranded on the side of the road. No money, no phone, and no help left me there with a broken car and 6' of 3/8" nylon rope.

Gates belt ~ 1100 miles
No money and nylon rope with knot in it ~ 4600 miles

The knot was just right to where at about 5k it started hitting the bottom of the hood...horrible racket...

digitalsolo

iTrader: (2)

I agree. Dayco belts are phenomonal, I've seen their blower belts take 1200 HP.

I don't know if Goodyear makes a higher end (Gatorback equivalent in V-Belts) but I've used those on my GTP for years with good luck, pushing 15 lbs of boost on a roots charger.