rubber serpentine belt

[guest3884]

hi all when should the rubber serpentine belt be changed on a jazz 1.4 2006 with 28000 miles on the clock thanks john.

[guest2982]

apparently on condition, it is not mentioned in the service schedule:
http://www.hondafitjazz.com/manual/A00/HTML/AJ/SAA2EAJ000000000000JBAT01.HTML

mine is 10yo/80k, I might buy spare one to have in boot just in case

see also #7 there: http://clubjazz.org/forum/index.php?topic=4649.0

[culzean]

This belt costs about £55 from Honda,  when I went to buy one the spares guy said he had one on this Integra for 140K and still OK.  He said there is no definite life given for them,  just when visible cracks or damage appear.  Before that I was of the opinion that every 50K was about right.  In handbook it just says inspect every 25K.

[guest2982]

tenner for the one form Contitech
carparts4less had incorrect catalog info, sending back wrong belt now

early GD with a/c: 5PK1155 ALT, MTR-CODE: L12A1, (AC), (2004<)
newer GD with a/c: 6PK1138 ALT, (AC), (>2003)

[chrisc]

Well, a Toyota Corolla cam-belt is R30 (£2.50) from a spares shop.  I mean, its only a piece of reinforced rubber with ribs on one side, made to a specific width, so why the fancy price?

I do like your description though (serpentine)!

[culzean]

Be careful, all belts are not created equal - we have replaced rubber poly-vee belts (Contitech)  on some of our conveyor drives with proper polyurethane belts,  we found the rubber Contitech belts were cracking and failing quite quickly, and the higher spec polyurethane belts are much, much better, (and guess what they cost more) - you get what you pay for and it's not worth skimping - any way by look of the Honda belt most people on this forum may never have to replace it unless they are planning to do 200K+

[guest2982]

hmm, ok, thanks, I'm happy with Continental tires, thought they produce proper v-belts as well..
will defer it then keeping an eye on original one

[DV]

I had Contitech belts twice on my GD Jazz and never more. It started to slip after 15-20k miles and was not over tensioned when it was fitted, after the slipping I gave more tension but did not help (the slipping occurred after a rainy/humid evening for a good minute). ( I was not happy to wake up my neighbours at 5.30am).

Currently I fitted "Gates" belt and it is so much better (15k in).

[guest2982]

thanks for feedback on Gates
why did you replace original one btw?

[chrisc]

Gates belts are also made in SA and cost far less than Honda belts.  On all our vehicles, we routinely replace the belt at 60 000km.  Not a big job, it takes our workshop guy about 30 mins.  After you loosen the tensioner wheel, it is a matter of threading it out.  Of course on some cars (Honda included) there is not much space and you have to remove a cover, so expect damaged knuckles.  I watched him swop one on a Ford FWD LDV and it took less than 5 mins

[DV]

thanks for feedback on Gates
why did you replace original one btw?

It was not the original one on when I bought the car...

(The previous owner had a front right accident and he had to change it, the alternator housing was slightly damaged too. I thought the alternator was not running straight after eating/slipping the Contitech belts so I replaced it but it did not help, so I went for the Gates belt, so far good).

[guest2982]

ups, wrong button
I see, thanks for sharing

Gates belts are also made in SA and cost far less than Honda belts.  On all our vehicles, we routinely replace the belt at 60 000km.  Not a big job, it takes our workshop guy about 30 mins.  After you loosen the tensioner wheel, it is a matter of threading it out.  Of course on some cars (Honda included) there is not much space and you have to remove a cover, so expect damaged knuckles.  I watched him swop one on a Ford FWD LDV and it took less than 5 mins

I'm trying to avoid paying for any workshop hours in UK
just thought of having spare one in the trunk just in case of snapping far away from home, so it could be fixed in nearest garage; differing it for few years now

And it's not really clear which model will fit, manufacturers have such misleading catalogs, Gates doesn't have jazz in their model list at all, not relying on carparts websites anymore, will measure myself during next service

[culzean]

Replacing the auxillary drive belt on GD,  you had best take off the offside front wheel and remove section of the plastic guarding this gives easy access.  The place where they tell you to check belt tension is also accessible from here. 

Personally I wouldn't worry about the belt unless its been slipping badly and tightening doesn't help or there is visible damage.  Modern belt materials are so much better than old rubber stuff that used to fall apart and fail suddenly,  and the thinner section of the modern belts reduces the stresses in the belts that used to happen in thicker section belts. 

[DV]

I bought mine on eBay, with no aircon the length is 847mm, 5pk (from Contitech package).