Any one running a Dayco belt, is it making a lot of noise, or has anyone had problems with Dayco belts ?

I put my old Gates one back in, and it's quiet _ at least for now.

The Dayco one is new, but is slightly longer then the Gates one.

Tried everything that I could find information wise to make the Dayco one quiet, but it only lasted for a short time.

Funny thing is that there are a number of videos of guys complaining of the noise coming from the Dayco belts.
Dayco even has a tutorial on installing a new belt that is chirping and of course it's not the belt, but other things.

Other things like misaligned pulleys, worn bearings etc.

When comparing the two, the Dayco's grooves seem quite worn compared to the Gates one, it looks like the new one is not really seating into the pulleys very well.

I'm not impressed by Dayco at this point !

 

I have installed Dayco belts for as long as I can remember, unless their quality has diminished I would suspect you may have the wrong belt for the application.

In fact I do not remember ever taking a serpentine belt off and comparing it to the old one and have it not match close to exact the same size unless I was given the wrong belt.

How much longer is the Dayco?

I would check several sources for belt numbers for you but I have no idea what year or engine you have.

Most belt tensioners have a indicator that shows if the belt is stretched and needs to be replaced, if your tensioner has these markings on it, is the mark in the correct position with the Dayco and the Gates belt?

 

Mazda B3000 _ 3 Litre Vulcan 1999.
The Dayco belt puts the mark tensioner in the middle while the old Gates belt puts the mark on the far end mark for a new belt.

This is the first vehicle I've owned with a serpentine belt, so I have no experience with them.
That tiny bit of difference in the wear mark, makess difference ?

Lots of people are happy with the Goodyear Gatorback, or I may just get a new Gates.
The old one has some damage to it (not done by the engine).

 

I will mention from the start when replacing serpentine belts, every manufacture of belt recommends replacing the belt tensioner and idler pulley each time you replace the belt.

Dayco has their version of belt tensioner and idler pully kit that is designed to work with the vehicle and the Dayco belt which both pulleys may have a slightly larger diameter to make up for the longer length.

I imagine they do this to make sure you purchase the belt the tensioner and the idler pulley from them.

Here is a link to the kit they intended you to purchase I did not look up a kit number for your truck. I also did not check to see if my theory of larger pulleys are true or not.

But I would be willing to bet if you purchased a new Dayco tensioner and idler pulley, your Dayco belt would work fine and your gates pulley would be too tight ( according to the gauge )


Dayco Serpentine Belt Kits



According to the specs the Dayco has a slightly larger Outside Circumference
But only Dayco mentions the Effective Length which is (mm) 2241.55


Dayco Poly Rib ( standard quality ) 5060883 Compared to Dayco's website Part number should be 5060883 which obviously is the same.

So it seems to be clear the Dayco belts seems larger like you noticed.

What part number does your Dayco belt have ?

This is some information from Rock Auto, On three belts one Dayco and two gates.

Dayco Poly Rib ( standard quality ) 5060883

Rib Quantity 6
Top Width (in) .82
Effective Length (in) 88.25
Effective Length (mm) 2241.55
Outside Circumference (in) 88.91
Outside Circumference (mm) 2258.32
Rib Profile W Profile
Material EPDM, Aramid Reinforced
Cross Section K-Section
Rib Depth Standard
Color Black
Standards SAE J1459, SAE J2432
Minimum Operating Temperature (C) -42.7
Maximum Operating Temperature (C) 100
Minimum Operating Temperature (F) -45
Maximum Operating Temperature (F) 212


Gates ( standard quality )

OE Comparison Rating OE Performance
Section K
Number of Ribs 6
Top Width (in) 0.807
Top Width (mm) 20
Outside Circumference (in) 88.87
Outside Circumference (mm) 2257

Gates High performance ( racing ETC )

Designed using advanced manufacturing technology and premium EPDM construction to provide customers with superior ABDS (Accessory Belt Drive System) and new vehicle type performance.

Lasts 50%-60% longer than value line belts.
Precise dimension control of rib profile transmits load efficiently throughout the ABDS allowing components to operate at optimum levels.
Able to operate and accept misalignment in the ABDS system better than other serpentine belts.
Flexible construction allows the belt to withstand billions of topside and backside bends resulting in long belt life.
OE Comparison Rating OE Performance
Section K
Number of Ribs 6
Top Width (in) 0.807
Top Width (mm) 20
Outside Circumference (in) 88.87
Outside Circumference (mm) 2257

from the Dayco website Part number is confirmed to be 5060883

Rib Profile W Profile
Metric Part 6PK2240
Effective Length (in) 88.25
Top Width (in) 0.82
Thickness 0.17
No. of Ribs 6
Rib Depth Standard
Compound EPDM, Aramid Reinforced
Backside Material Rubber


Ford Parts show a part number of 8620(JK6-887)

Rockauto shows a Motorcraft JK6891 alternate/OEM Part Number(s): F77E8620XA, F77Z8620XA, JK6887

Neither Ford or Rockauto gives specifications on the Motorcraft belt for comparison

All of this confusion and extra parts replacements could be avoided by using the OEM Motorcraft belt, tensioner and idler pulley.

In my head if the tensioner and idler pulley are still good ( The tensioner applies enough tension and the bearings plus pulley are in good shape ) you could get away with just a new Motorcraft belt provided you have a OEM tensioner and idler.

 

My Dayco belt has a different number 5060860 _ 6PK2185, but Rock Auto lists it for a Mazda B3000.

I appreciate all the info, but I just wanted to find out if others were noise problems with the Dayco serpentine belts.

Both idler pulley bearings were replaced (tensioner bearing), new bearings in the alternator, rebuilt the power steering pump, water pump is new and was replaced by the previous and still looks new _ bearings are nice and tight.

At first there wasn't any noise with the Dayco, but after I got the engine back together form it's rebuild, that's when it started making noise, but the Gates one was always quiet.

The only thing that I can think of is the alternator pulley isn't quite lined up _ it can be moved around slightly (as you know) on its mount.

Some adjust pulley alignment by moving the one on the power steering pump in or out, but I pressed the pulley back on where it was, flush with the end of the shaft.

The Dayco video would have me buy a laser alignment tool to check all this to try and correct a **** poor design of a belt.

Upon visual inspection, the grooves look too wide to sit into the pulleys comfortably, it looks like the belt is just ridding on the top edge of the pulley grooves.

 

All i can really say here is that Gates make *very* good belts, doesn't excuse Dayco though.

I'm assuming you got the PS pulley on all the way?

That first number you list shows it won't fit my engine, for what that's worth, and we have the same one.

The second number is not pulling up a Dayco brand belt for me, in fact none of the numbers here pull up a compatible belt.

Found Dayco 5060885 fits my Vulcan with AC, but personally i'd get a Gates belt.

 

5060860 sounds like a non a/c belt. Is that your application?

 

Yeah, that's it _ no AC, but squeals like a bugger.

Drove it a long distance today too, no squealing with the old gates belt.

 

What no A/C OH hell no LOL

Since I live in Florida in my head everyone has A/C

 

Ha Ha !
Not here in BC, but I could have used it today though _ or even the past week.

 

Just bought a Gates rad cap.... Did you buy a replacement belt yet?

 

Nope...
Still have the old Gates one on there.

Had to put the upper and lower rad hoses on tonight, one was seeping around the clamp, so I just went and did both.
Hate working on stuff like that during the week though.
Not much left energy wise after work.

 

Agreed on all counts :(

Not sure why, but thought i should drop the trans oil tonight....

I hate ATF, despite usually never even needing a rag for doing anything oil drop-wise, oh boy....

 

Problem solved, both belts in the photo are new, the Dayco only having less then a 100 miles on it.
Dayco on the left, Gates on the right.
You can see the Dayco's grooves are way too wide to grab the sides of the pulley grooves, hence the squealing, the Dayco belt is ridding on top of the pulley rather then the sides, causing all the racket.

Gates belt is nice and quiet.

I changed the bottom rad hose yesterday and got some coolant on the pulleys, so even the old gates belt was now making noise, so I now had to clean the coolant of the pulleys before putting on the new Gates belt.

What a pain in the *** all this had been.

 

Glad you got it all sorted, and, as usual working on the Ranger, it seems there is always something else awkward you end up having to do.

 

The other odd thing about this is when I initially put the belt on before I bent the connecting rod, it was quiet, it was only after the full engine rebuild that all the squealing started and appeared to originate from the water pump pulley.

Maybe there was some contamination on one or more of the pulleys that happened during the engine rebuild that contaminated the Dayco belt and once it got into the rubber compound, there was no getting out ???

At any rate the Dayco's grooves are too wide for such a new belt.
If you look at this video, the Dayco belt would fail.

There's also another one, with small teeth, if you can see light passing through, the belt should not be used _ the Dayco one would fail the test.

Here's the other video:


How to Check Serpentine Belts for Wear | Gates Corporation

 

Oh i remember that tool, they were sending it out free several years ago, i wonder what happened to mine.