serpentine belt and hose replacements

usersmanual wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:

usersmanual wrote:

tatest wrote:
Belt life is not all that predictable, so frequent inspection is a better strategy than trying to make a maintenance decision based on years in service (for many industries, operating hours tends to work better). I am just home from a motorcoach tour in which our year-old Prevost coach threw a serpentine belt at about 30,000 miles and had to be towed 200 miles to a service center for Volvo diesels. Upside of that one was riding in a 50-year old MCI, as the final solution of our tour company's efforts to find replacement coaches. We had three different replacements in a 18 hour period.

would have been a better move to have a mobile mechanic come out and replace the belt and carry on your journey

I guess the 200 miles tow was covered by insurance?
But fact is that belts are unpredictable.
I was restoring a car with 297,000 miles and serpentine belt who look like original got replacement with new, good quality belt.
Took less than 25 miles for new belt to start pulling string and turn into a load of cords under the hood, so the 20+ years old belt went back.

I doubt that anyone who can afford a new prevost would worry about the tow cost in the first place.All I was saying is if all it needed was a simple belt why tow it 200 miles and why rent 3 different units all while simply needing a belt

Three different replacements because it seems to be difficult in D.C. to get a "I need it right now" charter for more than a few hours at a time. The tour provider does what is necessary to keep us moving. Similarly, in NYC the transit company contracted for this tour used two different coaches and drivers for our 42 hours on Manhattan, before sending a coach and driver that would take us from NYC to DC. The coaches can't really overnight on Manhattan, have to come over from New Jersey to pick us up and go back after our last drop-off of the day.

usersmanual wrote:

tatest wrote:
Belt life is not all that predictable, so frequent inspection is a better strategy than trying to make a maintenance decision based on years in service (for many industries, operating hours tends to work better). I am just home from a motorcoach tour in which our year-old Prevost coach threw a serpentine belt at about 30,000 miles and had to be towed 200 miles to a service center for Volvo diesels. Upside of that one was riding in a 50-year old MCI, as the final solution of our tour company's efforts to find replacement coaches. We had three different replacements in a 18 hour period.

would have been a better move to have a mobile mechanic come out and replace the belt and carry on your journey

Volvo's mobile mechanic was the guy who made the decision to have it towed.

I am a pessimist by nature, so I change belts & hoses when I want, not when they break....:C

Kayteg1 wrote:

usersmanual wrote:

tatest wrote:
Belt life is not all that predictable, so frequent inspection is a better strategy than trying to make a maintenance decision based on years in service (for many industries, operating hours tends to work better). I am just home from a motorcoach tour in which our year-old Prevost coach threw a serpentine belt at about 30,000 miles and had to be towed 200 miles to a service center for Volvo diesels. Upside of that one was riding in a 50-year old MCI, as the final solution of our tour company's efforts to find replacement coaches. We had three different replacements in a 18 hour period.

would have been a better move to have a mobile mechanic come out and replace the belt and carry on your journey

I guess the 200 miles tow was covered by insurance?
But fact is that belts are unpredictable.
I was restoring a car with 297,000 miles and serpentine belt who look like original got replacement with new, good quality belt.
Took less than 25 miles for new belt to start pulling string and turn into a load of cords under the hood, so the 20+ years old belt went back.

I doubt that anyone who can afford a new prevost would worry about the tow cost in the first place.All I was saying is if all it needed was a simple belt why tow it 200 miles and why rent 3 different units all while simply needing a belt

usersmanual wrote:

tatest wrote:
Belt life is not all that predictable, so frequent inspection is a better strategy than trying to make a maintenance decision based on years in service (for many industries, operating hours tends to work better). I am just home from a motorcoach tour in which our year-old Prevost coach threw a serpentine belt at about 30,000 miles and had to be towed 200 miles to a service center for Volvo diesels. Upside of that one was riding in a 50-year old MCI, as the final solution of our tour company's efforts to find replacement coaches. We had three different replacements in a 18 hour period.

would have been a better move to have a mobile mechanic come out and replace the belt and carry on your journey

I guess the 200 miles tow was covered by insurance?
But fact is that belts are unpredictable.
I was restoring a car with 297,000 miles and serpentine belt who look like original got replacement with new, good quality belt.
Took less than 25 miles for new belt to start pulling string and turn into a load of cords under the hood, so the 20+ years old belt went back.

tatest wrote:
Belt life is not all that predictable, so frequent inspection is a better strategy than trying to make a maintenance decision based on years in service (for many industries, operating hours tends to work better). I am just home from a motorcoach tour in which our year-old Prevost coach threw a serpentine belt at about 30,000 miles and had to be towed 200 miles to a service center for Volvo diesels. Upside of that one was riding in a 50-year old MCI, as the final solution of our tour company's efforts to find replacement coaches. We had three different replacements in a 18 hour period.

would have been a better move to have a mobile mechanic come out and replace the belt and carry on your journey

Kayteg1 wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:
Back when Timken made the bearings in the USA, you could expect them to last much longer. Now that some manufacturers have replaced them with the cheaper garbage from China, you can expect failure to come sooner.

You are right about good quality Timken, but the issue is wider spread.
Driving Mercedes for couple of decades, the German-made SKF bearing seem to drop quality as well. I had older MB cars with 300k miles and original bearings.
Now on our 2004 model, the idler pulley bearing seized at 150k.
But when I read, lot of Mercedes parts are made in Czech republic, Poland, France.
I hope wheel bearings will not have the same issues.

You don't have to buy roller bearings in typical automotive market locations. If you are in a major metro area, do a google search for industrial bearings. If available, go to a "Bearing Store" or online places like McMaster-Carr. (no affiliation) Roller bearings are widely available for applications from the space shuttle to childrens skateboards. Expect to pay for quality, but it is available. People behind the counter at bearing stores tend to know a little more about bearings than the average automotive parts counter guy. Tell them your application and budget. Buy the best quality you can afford and don't let someone else spoon feed you their specifications.

Google: ABEC

Chum lee

rgatijnet1 wrote:
Back when Timken made the bearings in the USA, you could expect them to last much longer. Now that some manufacturers have replaced them with the cheaper garbage from China, you can expect failure to come sooner.

You are right about good quality Timken, but the issue is wider spread.
Driving Mercedes for couple of decades, the German-made SKF bearing seem to drop quality as well. I had older MB cars with 300k miles and original bearings.
Now on our 2004 model, the idler pulley bearing seized at 150k.
But when I read, lot of Mercedes parts are made in Czech republic, Poland, France.
I hope wheel bearings will not have the same issues.

Kayteg1 wrote:
Love the pulley where package says "Made in Canada" and mold on the bearing "CHINA"
Technology change and when some things improve, some go downhill.
I had cars with 200,000 miles and factory serpentine belt and hose.
But idle pulley bearing gave up in the mean time.
Bearings used to be lifetime items on the cars, were they not?
So when it comes to belts and hoses >>> Inspect, Inspect, Inspect.

Back when Timken made the bearings in the USA, you could expect them to last much longer. Now that some manufacturers have replaced them with the cheaper garbage from China, you can expect failure to come sooner. For those with a DP, good luck hearing the bearing starting to fail.
Anyone that believes it is better to spend more money for OEM parts should examine WHY they are replacing the part to begin with. Many aftermarket belts are made with new kevlar cords, etc, that far exceed the OEM specs. Even Dayco sells their standard belts and their improved Poly belts, which they claim will last longer.
When it comes to idler pulleys and tensionors, I bought in to the more expensive OEM ACDelco product after I had a choice of several other less expensive pulleys. They all probably had the same Chinese bearing but they did not try to hide it behind the "Made in Canada" BS to deceive the consumer.
What I do now is to take the bearing out of my old idler pulley and order a new Timken sealed bearing to replace the cheap factory garbage.

Belt life is not all that predictable, so frequent inspection is a better strategy than trying to make a maintenance decision based on years in service (for many industries, operating hours tends to work better). I am just home from a motorcoach tour in which our year-old Prevost coach threw a serpentine belt at about 30,000 miles and had to be towed 200 miles to a service center for Volvo diesels. Upside of that one was riding in a 50-year old MCI, as the final solution of our tour company's efforts to find replacement coaches. We had three different replacements in a 18 hour period.