Just talked with a very friendly parts man at a local GM dealership. I asked him if fan belts were needing replacement on our mostly 10+ year old LS1 F-bodies just due to age. He said that they seem to be lasting real well but many owners have been replacing them due to age fears and keeping the old belts for spares. Makes sense to me. He said he could get me both the serpentine belt and a/c belt for about $60, both of course are GM NOS parts, not aftermarket. Seems smart to me since I plan on keeping the car for another 10 years probably. Not sure I want to be running on 20 year old belts one day. On a side note he says very few people have replaced hoses. They seem to last and last, far from the old days of replacing them every so many years.

 

i don't replace belts or hoses unless they have visible wear on them. it is a good idea though, and i'm going to do this soon, to replace your serp. belt before it gets too worn out and keep it in your tool bag in the car just in case. more than likely, if you keep check on things under the hood every once in a while, your going to notice worn parts, swollen hoses, etc. before they give you big problems.

 

The #1 reason for a serpentine belt wearing out is because of that ridiculous GM factory tensioner.

If you want a serpentine belt to last 8+ years, buy a Katech fixed belt tensioner. (I only replaced mine because of preventative maintenance, it was 8+ years old).

If a belt continues to BOUNCE like the factory tensioner alows it to do, it wears fast and breaks, or gets thrown off when you wack the throttle. Plus the factory tensioners wear out and you have to pay quite a bit for a new one.

You can put a new belt on, look at the tick marks on the factory tensioner to see how nice and tight it is...then in just a few months you will see that the belt has already stretched. My new serpentine belt that I put on back in 2002 when my Katech tensioner went on.......was exactly the same length when I took it off a few months ago. ZERO stretch. Tensioner was still in its original position. When the new belt went on the tensioner tightened down in the same exact position again. So my 8+ year old belt was the same length as my new one.

Thats why belts wear out. My belt probably would have lasted for years and years more, who knows, it looked fine.

.

 

That's not too bad a price for both belts. Honestly, the belts are nothing special, and you can replace them with Dayco or Gatorback aftermarket belts. They are just standard serpentine belts. I like to use gatorbacks if if can find them. I wouldn't run a belt more than 5 years - small price to pay for a new one to avoid getting stranded on the roadside.

 

Like others have said, visible wear is what you're looking on your belts. You're looking for cracks and maybe even chunks of the ribbing missing from the belt itself. Take a flashlight and hold it on the belt where it rounds on a pulley-if you've got cracks it'll show up there easiest. If there're cracks other damage, replace it, and there's nothing wrong with a parts store brand belt...

 

That was my thinking as well. I just replaced them today and the GM belts cost just $55 plus tax. I'm sure aftermarket belts are a bit cheaper but I have everything in my car stock and GM, right down to the battery. Just a personal preference. I now have two 'spares' that probably would have lasted several more years.

 

I use OE or Goodyear belts now - I've been having bad luck with cheap aftermarket belts.

 

the new rubber they use on belts these days is supposed to last............forever? ......but we all know it does not.......cheap insurance to change em out

 

I usually don't go longer than 60k even if the belt looks good. I've seen cars with 100k and the belt isn't even cracked, some have 30k and it shreds itself up. Belts are one of those really wierd maintenance items.

 

Older (pre-2000) neoprene belts used to crack. Newer belts made from EDPM don't crack. Instead, the grooves wear and open up causing the pulleys to bottom out. Send in for one of these free gauges (Gates has one too) and you can test your belt. I just checked mine with no cracks and the grooves are way too deep. Time to change it...

http://www.daycoproducts.com/daycowe...8!OpenDocument

 

I had to replace my oem ac belt at around 85k, havent on the serp, and probably should. I've used gates, I dunno if there the best or not but I always heard they were good

 

Dayco, Gates, Goodyear, Delco are all good brands.

The belt can be changed on these cars in 5 minutes. Since all the critical accessories run off the same belt, it's better to be safe and replace it. AC belt can be left until it flies off.