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Serpentine Belt question
I still have the original serpentine belt on my 1999 Alero. It actualy looks fine (at 26K miles it should), but I suspect that it's what's making the squeaking noise that I hear. Normally I don't change out these things unless I have a good reason, since they usually outlast the engine, but if it will get rid of the noise, I'll do it (and for piece of mind). Anyway, I'm thinking about getting the Goodyear Gatorback, but when I look at specs online for different belts, they seem to come in to slightly different sizes for this car:
GoodYear Gatorback 4060868 86.875"
Duralast 868K6 86.875" (Autozone house brand)
Dayco 5060868 86.875"
NAPA PBH6K868 87.345"
Plus one more at NAPA that's also 87.345" (for $50 and is the low noise type)
From RockAuto.com, two more:
GATES Part # K060868 87 3/8"
ACDELCO Part # 6K868 87 3/8"
My question is does the belt length matter?
I had this problem my Escort wherby different manufacturer's belts were different lengths. The Dayco belt I originally used I eventually trashed and substituted a Goodyear Gatorback because it as about .75" longer and was really easy to install vs the Dayco belt that took me an hour because it was too short. So naturally I'm hesitant to buy one of the short ones, even though the Gatorback and the Dayco belts are obviously the better design.
I've seen references to the GatorBack here before with respect to solving noise problems, but nobody has mentioned anything about installation problems due to belt length.
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