Missing teeth from alternator belt

[cartercd]

I noticed a slight slapping sound today from the engine bay, and upon investigation I found there were teeth missing from one of the alternator belts. Notice in the pic the belt on the right has missing teeth below the idler pulley. It's a Gates belt with 30K miles. I'll replace all belts with OEM Saturday, but for the two days I need to drive (probably 60 miles) should I let them be or remove the damaged belt and just run one?

 

[CodyRx7]

youre not supposed to run the belts with the teeth...OEM are V groove belts.

 

[bad1]

yeah codyrx7 u r right, oem belts are v grooved, i know that cuz i learned it that way too, im driving on one belt too, and mine just snapped yesterday, im switching to oem belts saturday, i bought the rig with napa xl belts installed, n they suk!

 

[landtank]

I'd cut that one damaged belt off and run just one.

 

[charleston]

You will be all good with one belt as long as it is not in the same condition. make sure you get good OEM belts next time!

 

[sseaman]

i would rather run one belt, then risk having that other one break off, and get caught up in the engine somewhere

 

[Lka1988]

I had a belt shred and fall off the pulley once, but it was the AC belt. Just so happened to be in December, so I cut it off. Didn't bother installing a new one until summer.

 

[bad1]

what is the purpose of two belts on that pulley? thx

 

[cartercd]

I ended up cutting off the damaged belt and running with one belt for a few days. So, if anything, dual belts provide some redundancy in case one fails.

From my research on this forum, there is nothing wrong with running the Gates (also sold as Napa Premium) cogged belts. They have the same V profile as the OEM belts, but theoretically the cogs (or teeth) allow the belts to run cooler. They defintley do make more noise than OEM, thus the moniker "Gates whine".

Gates has an excellent reputation, but I would recommend OEM for the simple fact that the lack of whine makes it easier to hear other sounds from the engine bay.

 

[Kalawang]

I ended up cutting off the damaged belt and running with one belt for a few days. So, if anything, dual belts provide some redundancy in case one fails.

From my research on this forum, there is nothing wrong with running the Gates (also sold as Napa Premium) cogged belts. They have the same V profile as the OEM belts, but theoretically the cogs (or teeth) allow the belts to run cooler. They defintley do make more noise than OEM, thus the moniker "Gates whine".

Gates has an excellent reputation, but I would recommend OEM for the simple fact that the lack of whine makes it easier to hear other sounds from the engine bay.

I've been running cogged belts for about 3 and a half or 4 years and no problems at all. Frankly, I didn't know they were cogged as I had them changed that long ago without looking. I only realized it recently when I made another change for purposes of keeping my stuff reasonably new and hopefully reliable.

I'll probably go looking for OEM next time I have the time, but in the meantime, I'm not worried.


Kalawang

 

[baxter650]

I will Never run any other belts other than stock, i have tried a half dozen brands of belts on my 80 and none were worth a pinch of s***, they wouldn't last between oil changes and some would be done in a weeks. I thought there was a problem with my pulleys and was going nuts. I figured a belt is a belt, boy was i wrong. Put on factory Toyota belts and be done with it.

 

[cruiserdan]

Cost is certinly no excuse to run aftermarket belts. A full set of factory belts, including A/C, is less than 25 bucks.

If I HAD to run cogged belts in an emergency I think I would remove the idler as well. The noise comes from the belts running on the idler.

 

[Beowulf]

From my research on this forum, there is nothing wrong with running the Gates (also sold as Napa Premium) cogged belts.

"Nothing wrong" as in you couldn't find any posts that state your truck will blow up if you run cogged belts... ? ? ?
or ...
"Nothing wrong" as in you couldn't find any posts recommending OEM belts to solve a myriad of problems people have had with cogged belts over the past 5 years of 'Mud posts... ? ? ?

If the former, then yes. Your truck won't blow up though it will sound like it is about to blow up.

If the latter, then I suggest you suck at searching. This is one of the things that identifies a newbie... their first post is usually "why does my engine sound like it is a jet plane and my buddies 80 is quiet with just a bit of valve noise?" Almost guaranteed the first reply to newbie's post will point him to check for cogged belts. This same scenario has been repeated over and over for many years and many newbies.

-B-

 

[cartercd]

The posts I found that specifically mentioned the Gates brand belt had nothing bad to say about them other than they whined (which is not necessarily bad, its just loud). Gates is an OEM vendor for some Toyota replacement belts and several members with prolific post-counts have mentioned Gates quality, so if I couldn't get OEM they would be my next choice. So I have seen plenty of post recommending OEM belts, but none that called out Gates specifically as causing problems. Regardless, I have OEM belts on now and I can hear my engine again.

 

[Kalawang]

I've had belts the wrong size and saw them go bust in about 100kms use. I've also used after market belts that stretched so much they became useless in a 100 or more kms. The ones I have cost U.S. $ 2.00 each and are pretty good regardless that they are cogged and after market. OEM costs me near 50% more than it costs in the U.S.A. in many instances. Your description of " Stealership " suits this location well.

I suppose the whinning described for cogged belts is due to the higher RPM's your gas engines run at. Mine is a deisel and I honestly don't hear a thing from my belts except when I've been running a very dusty road. I thought that was true for all belts until I found out they were cogged, which is why I'll be going OEM next time I have extra change and the time. I'm in no hurry. My last set of coggs were looking trouble free and just got cought in my maintenance. I've put them in a side compatment in the back as emergency parts in case of need.


Kalawang

 

[Brian894X4]

The whole duel alternator belt really struck me when I bought my rig. It's one of a number of details that set the 80 and 1FZ apart from so many other vehicles, including newer generation Toyotas. It was clearly designed for heavy duty use in remote 3rd world countries with little to no service. As heavy duty as the 80 is, the 1FZ was also designed for the 70 series which was clearly an extreme duty commerical vehicle and almost exclusively used as such, where ultimate reliability really mattered.

 

[robmir]

The whole duel alternator belt really struck me when I bought my rig. It's one of a number of details that set the 80 and 1FZ apart from so many other vehicles, including newer generation Toyotas. It was clearly designed for heavy duty use in remote 3rd world countries with little to no service. As heavy duty as the 80 is, the 1FZ was also designed for the 70 series which was clearly an extreme duty commerical vehicle and almost exclusively used as such, where ultimate reliability really mattered.

That should explain why we came to the world with a pair of ba....ls and not with only one, reliability right

 

[Brian894X4]

So, what would all you guys that hate the cogged and aftermarket belts run if you HAD to run a slightly longer than stock belt. Like about 1/2" longer to fit a custom alternator set up.

I'm installing a 150amp Toyota alternator with Photoman's mount and I can't get the stock belts to fit at all. So far, I've found a set of Mexican made supposedly Goodyear belts that are cogged, "appear" to be V-grooved and do fit.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Lka1988]

So, what would all you guys that hate the cogged and aftermarket belts run if you HAD to run a slightly longer than stock belt. Like about 1/2" longer to fit a custom alternator set up.

I'm installing a 150amp Toyota alternator with Photoman's mount and I can't get the stock belts to fit at all. So far, I've found a set of Mexican made supposedly Goodyear belts that are cogged, "appear" to be V-grooved and do fit.

Any other suggestions?

I've run Goodyear belts for a year now, doin' just fine.

It's not like your truck is gonna explode.

 

[fj80toyman]

Does Mr. Gates have a little guy in the back room matching belt lengths together and tying them with little ribbons so 80 owners will be happy?

I think not!



"...had nothing bad to say about them other than they whined (which is not necessarily bad, its just loud)."

Whuut?

There's such a thing as a good loud whine? (note: whine, not wine)