Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting New Belt Has Slight Fraying At Edges In One Day!

OK...I just replaced my serpentine belt w/a Dayco top of the line cross-grooved belt. After about 5 miles, I looked at it to check that everything was OK, & noticed that the edges along the entire length of the belt on both sides are slightly frayed. Old belt (43,000 miles) was in good shape - no fraying on edges at all - perfectly smooth. Looked at a co-workers Dayco belt (on a T-bird), also perfectly smooth. Had my co-workers at Advance take a look at it, all stumped.

I measured the width of each belt (old & new) w/a caliper, & noticed that the Dayco is slightly narrower. Is it possible that it is moving from side to side in the pulleys, hitting the edge of the pulleys & fraying? Is this something to be concerned about? I'm definitely going to keep an eye on it. I also measured another new belt at the store - same width as the one I put on.

The tensioner & idler pulley appeared to be fine, but maybe when I messed w/them while installing the belt something gave way that was ready to go, & the belt is now moving around? Seems to be tracking perfectly & all pulleys appear to be running smooth & in good shape when observed while running.

Anyone else notice any fraying at all at the edges of their belts?

Any ideas?????

(Oh, please, I don't want to have to put another belt on again for a long time!!!!!! I still have bruises & scrapes - I did it from the top )

Thanks!

Did you use any tools that could have scratched the inside of a pulley or outside of the belt belt when putting it on?

Janine, I've got the Dayco Poly-Cog as well, with no problems in like 10,000 miles.
I'm not questioning your mechanic skills, but is it on all the way? Just a thought.
Mike

When I replaced the little belt for the wp I saw it could be put on out of line. That is, with the ridges on the belt lined up with the wrong grooves. The belt would end up a little out of line from one pulley to another. Could be the same for the big one, I don't remember.
With that grroved belt, it can not move from side to side while running. Good luck- I would definitely get at it right away.

Thanks to all for input & suggestions.

I've put on many belts over the years & never had any problems, but of course I'm aware that anything can go wrong!

But I really do believe the belt is on OK. I used no tools near the belt or pulleys - just a serpentine belt tool, that never touched anything except the tensioner. Before I started the car, I made sure that the belt was correctly positioned in all of the pulleys.

I had my assistant manager (who has worked on vehicles for over 20 years, raced, & worked on race cars) look at it last night. With the engine running, we shined a flashlight on all of the pulleys & all around the belt. He agreed that the belt is tracking fine in all of the pulleys, & that all of the pulleys are running smoothly. He also said that he wouldn't even have noticed what I am seeing, if I hadn't pointed it out, & didn't think it was anything to worry about, but agreed that it was odd that the Dayco belt on his car, which we looked at, was not doing the same thing.

I'm guessing (& hoping & praying!!) that this is just normal. It isn't shredding or anything like that. It's a little difficult to explain, but if you notice, these belts are constructed with a layer of white cord like material in the center - on the newly installed Dayco on my car, white threads of this material are sticking out - you could take a scissors along the edge of the belt on both sides & snip them off - whereas on the new unused belts I looked at, nothing is sticking out.

I just carefully examined my original Motorcraft belt again, & it seems that on this belt, the white cord like material only reaches the edges in some places, & where it does, I am seeing a little of this same thing - along the rest of the belt, it's smooth. Soooooo, maybe the Dayco is just "threadier" at the edges! (Sorry if my "hi tech" lingo is over some of your heads!!! LOL )

Or maybe I got a defective belt that is unraveling itself??????? Worst case scenario is that *something* is unraveling *it*.

Would any of you who have a Dayco belt installed do me a huge favor, & take a really careful look at it when you have a chance, & see if you see any white threads sticking out anywhere along the edges? (Or any brand belt, for that matter.)

Thanks!!!

Had a similar experience with one of my "other" cars (which doesn't have a spring loaded belt tensioner).

I installed a new belt (Gates) with not enough tension, causing the longest span of the belt to vibrate like a banjo string, jump a groove & rip off one side of the belt. After a few choice admonitions; I replaced the belt again with a Dayco, adjusted for more tension & haven't had a problem since...

Maybe not enough tension?....my .02...

The usual cause of this is that the belt is not properly centered in one pulley and on that one pulley is off by one groove. I know you have checked that, but you may want ot look again. Especially look at whatever pulley is hardest to see. It is also possible that it was initially slightly off and moved into the correct position slightly nearly immediately after starting the engine. It is also possible that you have either a defective belt or a belt that was damaged somehow before it was installed. This sort of thing is not always obvious.

No matter what caused it, keep an eye on the belt and replace it if there is any doubt.