Ok about 2 weeks ago I had pulled a load of cattle and another with a bumper hitch camper to the MO State Fair. No problems at all until about 7:00pm started the truck up and it made a heck of noise, so I shut off the truck , open the hood and there is my drive belt wrapped around the crankshaft pulley!! I replaced it in May of 2009 with a Gates, green stripe belt from an reputable auto parts store back home. I dig thru the glove box and find the sales receipt with a 1 year warranty. so i get a ride to the store which happens to have one in the town I am in. get in there and they say"lets look it up to make sure you have the right one" no problem, give them all the info and then they notice it is also on the ticket. Computer tells them I need a different one and the closet ones are in Okalahoma! I 'm in Missouri and they tell me it would saturday morning before I can get it, this is tuesday and I am 200 miles from home with my family! They say i have the wrong one! so I ask whats the difference in the one I had and the one I am suppose to have, 3 guys spend the next half hour with computers, tech support and finally one of them calls a gates hotline number, there is supposedly a 1/8" shorter belt that the computer calls for! I don't have time to wait so after they look again the books it calls for the one I have. so I convince them to give what I had and call it good, got it on and no problems since. SO, my question is should I be worried??? do I actually have the right or wrong belt??? thanks for any info.

 

1/8" is nothing. Your tensioner will take the slack. i would check all your pullies for any damage that may have been the cause for the belt to frag

 

X2....my pulley had a break in it that sliced my belt.

 

Couldn't see any damage at the time, it just snapped the belt into! I'l have to crawl around this weekend and check for damage. thanks.

 

Ok happened to be checking the truck over this afternoon and noticed some small wet spots between the belt,fan area and the right battery. It is some what sticky so I am assuming some almost dry anti-freeze. then I notice the new belt that I put on in August is narrower now! , can't find any pieces wrapped up any where, so my question is what do I need to look at to worry about fixing before I get left on the side of the road to work some morning??? please help?

 

Check your water pump for any radial play in bearing. Grab hold of the water pump pulley and try to move up and down. There should be no play at all. If the belt is on it will be toughter to move since tensioner is keeping belt tight. Try 3/8 rachet to relieve tensioner then check for movement. If the bearing has play it will allow belt to walk off the pulley when engine is running. Could also cause fraying of outside edge on belt since it will not be running in groves in pulleys properly. Replace the water pump then, coolant leakage at the weep hole should also be first clue that it is time to replace pump.

 

thanks for the info BigIron, I also wondered if the idler pulley could also be a coming issue?

 

Well the water pump bit the dust on the way to work this morning...anti-freeze everywhere under the hood! Now trying to find a new one, truck is stuck at work, 2 different places have to order one in, one place says they have one for $49.99 but I have to go look at it to make sure it is the right one.