The last few days my MCS has been stumbling between 5K and redline. No codes have been thrown. Dang I should have looked at my boost gauge to see if it was skipping around above 5K. Anyhow, I took a look at the tensioner and belt today and decided something must be done.

I've got a 15% pulley and stock belt with just under 45,000 miles on the car(35,000 with the 15%). The tensioner stop was not showing the first hole at all as seen in the pic below. I've had a JCW Gates belt-14mm or 9/16" shorter than stock-in my parts bin so I decided to swap the belts. I don't have a tensioner tool so I used a 5/8" socket, a 1" long 1/4" NF bolt, a wee chunk of 3/8" plywood, a 3" long wood screw and a 2' prybar to slacken the tensioner. See pics below. It worked great! Just make sure your frame rail and prybar are taped up to prevent paint damage.

My only concern now is that with the JCW Gates Belt I only see half of the first hole in the tensioner stop, which is an improvement at least. Perhaps I should order a new tensioner, an even shorter belt(I know my pulley is a hair smaller than the JCW pulley) and mount an aftermarket tensioner stop too. Hmmm .







Jeremy

 

I'm gonna guess that your Gates belt was a 1374. I...and others will back me up...recommend a NAPA 060535 belt. I'm not sure what the corresponding Gates belt is. The Gates 1374 is equivalent to a NAPA 060539.

 

Yes the stock belt is 1388mm and JCW is 1374mm.

I didn't have time to take it for a test drive(lightly snowing here)yesterday but I'll be watching my boost gauge closely today as the snow has melted away already!

Jeremy

 

Check out Page 210, part # 25-060535 and # 25-060539.
http://napabeltshose.com/downloads/f...IDE_FORWEB.pdf

Looks like the JCW Gates belt @ 1374mm is a whopping 1 mm shorter than Napa's # 25-060535, which Napa states is 1375mm. Napa's # 25-060539 is just a tad shorter than the stock 1388mm belt. I hope everything holds together for me today and onwards!

Jeremy

 

All I know is the Gates 1374 slipped like mad above 5000 rpm and the Napa 060535 didn't...and the 1st tensioner hole showed with the Napa and not with the Gates.

 

Ok thanks HighLife! I'll pick one up and I'll let you know how this belt holds up.

I just returned from the test drive. No stumbling above 5K rpm or apparent belt slippage. I even managed to hit just below 16 psi(just above freezing here in the Great White North).

Jeremy