yesterday both alternator belts snapped within minutes of each other.
i was able to get to an advance auto parts store to secure replacements.
the only belts they had to fit my 92 wagon were called..

drive-rite

they were cheap in price ...4-5 bucks each

i figured as long as i was in their i might as well replace the a/c to crank pulley belt and the power steering belt. these were also cheap in price.

i paid 20 dollars for all 4 belts and found they fit perfectly. i was able to get home as if nothing had happened.

my question: does anyone have any experience with this brand?

should i just leave them on or am i looking for trouble?

Sorry to break it to you guys but matched sets are a thing of the past. Production quality is such now that it is not necessary belt sizes of the same number are right on the money. Before all a matched set was that some one would measure all the same number belts and pair up the ones that came close to each other.

Being an ex-parts store owner I know that one time belts were sold in matched sets. Now it is becoming harder to find matched sets. If you look at the belt you will see a batch number. It will match up with any belt from that run. Check the numbers to see. Most belts are now sold seperatly but claim they are matched. In my opinion any belt of the proper length will work, as pointed out earlier, the bushings will give enough to make a matched set impractical. So any good quality belt will do the job.

i've found advance auto's store brand stuff to be pretty good over the past six or seven years they've been in the athens ga area. napa quality seems higher, but there's not a huge distance between the two in my opinion. i avoid autozone.

i've found that fcpgroton has higher quality and generally lower prices than advance, but you have to deal with the mail order time lag.

at one time, advance sold the alternator belt set with a small piece of tape joining the two belts. the tape had the parts number on it.
i noticed about a year ago at advance that they don't package them this way any more.
i inquired, but the counter person didn't know anything about it.
this brings up a disadvantage in dealing with advance - in this part of the country anyway, the counter people are polite and service-oriented, but not many of them know or care much about cars or car parts.
the occasional competant knowledgeable person moves on quickly, or maybe gets promoted.

you might check the prices at fcp groton and order a set and have them for a backup and/or eventual replacement set.

As Ken says, the belts are usualy replaced with a matched pair, to equalize the belt tension I assume, and also for a redundant backup if one belt fails. But I'd be more concerned as to why your belts "snapped within minutes of each other". Maybe they were both so old that the "backup" belt just couldn't take it?

Normally, one belt will drive the alternator OK, as my son's '87 has been running with a bypassed (locked up) AC compressor for obout a year no, using a setup similar to the picture below (source unknown).



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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.

This is a good emergency setup for A/C compressor problems, what size belt are you using on the by-passed steering pump? The regular A/C belt? Dan

Sorry, I don'r have details on this.
As I said, my son is using a setup similar to the picture ... (source unknown).

I don't see his car often, but as said in another reply, his PS pump is farther the rear than the one in the picture, causing the PS belt to groove the rubber plug in the belt cover, till the plug was removed.

Evan says the non-AC PS mounting brackets may be available in Canada or Europe.
That may be why the pictured setup looks so right.
--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.

Hey Bruce, Where's the fan? Bet it over heats a lot...:>)
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Max..1989 244 DL 5 Spd., V15 Phase II Cam Bilstein HD, Turbo Swaybars, Poly Bushings all round, Turbo Wheels, Black leather interior, Electric mirrors, LED dash and gauge lights and now NEW ECODES with the turn signals, 1992 black 244 next project

Well, why not? Of course the 740/B230 only uses one belt for the alternator.

The double belt on a 240 is a "belt and suspenders" thing. Not truly necessary, but it sure can't hurt!

I've seen this "bypass" on more than one 240. Since the US never got any B230s without a/c, the proper brackets can be sourced from Canada or Europe.

Well, let me change that... *Almost never* got B230 without a/c. In 1985, on the 240, technically a/c was a "mandatory option". (What a stupid phrase!) I did once have an '85 244DL with no air. It was an early-build '85, highly unusual to see.

I know its kind of weird, but I have worked on a car like this. There's a 1990 240 sedan in Connecticut with no AC. It's a silver sedan with black cloth, and every other thing we normally get in our cars except no air.

Nice clean engine compartment, actually. The bracket for the PS pump is down low where our broken AC compressors usually live.

I think it was a Euro-delivery car.

As for 740/940 models using just one belt for the alternator (like the rest of the world does)... I have had so much trouble getting those belts to stay tight it's not even funny. I bet 2/3 of these cars have loose floppy belts on the alternator pulley. Watch one rev up and you'll probably see what I mean...
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::: Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 92 244 ::: 90 745GL ::: 90 745T ::: 84 242DL ::: 90 745T Parts ::: Used to have : 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 91 244, 88 244GL, 88 744GLE, 82 245T, 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 245DL, 89 244DL!

> Well, why not? Of course the 740/B230 only uses one belt for the alternator.

One difference is the 740 alternator drive belt doesn't span three pulleys, so it gets a more complete wrap around the small alternator pulley.
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-K (hope springs eternal)

am i correct in seeing u have disconnected your ac compressor by running your ps belt to the pulley that usually hold the second alternator belt?

"am i correct in seeing u have disconnected your ac compressor by running your ps belt to the pulley that usually hold the second alternator belt?"

Almost, but notice I said, "..using a setup similar to the picture below (source unknown).

My son's car is not the one pictured, and It's not one I see very often. But yes, the belts are "strung" as shown. However, I think the PS pump is farther back, making that belt at a slight angle—enough so to rub a groove in the rubber plug on the belt cover. But it does work.
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.

it appears one belt died of dryness and old age. it was the inner to the alternator of the 2. when it expired some detritus lodged..as least thats how it appeared..... under the other belt long enough for it to skip off the pulley coming into conflict with the a/c to crank pulley belt where it lost the fight.

whee i opened the hood the crank pulley to a/c compressor belt, the thickest of the 4 belts was in its pulley track upside down...that is the teeth were racing up and outwards. i am amazed it ran at all.

I'd be a little concerned (not much, but a little) that the alternator belts were sold "... ...4-5 bucks each...." They're supposed to be 'packaged' in carefully matched pairs -- so it isn't to the manufacturer's credit that they're being sold individually.

Matched pair is nice in theory, but in practice, because of the give in the accessory bushings, the outer belt could stand to be a little smaller than the inner belt to balance the tension. Imagine the marketing...
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-K (hope springs eternal)

i have noticed on a few of our 240's that YES the outer belt once installed with the inner belt and tightened...... within 100 miles of driving feels to the thumb push test a bit looser than the inner belt. i have no way to prove or measure this BUT they always 'feel' to my thumb when i push them both inward slightly less tight.

i agree.
i have always seen these alternators in packs of 2's for 9 bucks or so.
beggars can't be choosers in this case however