Does anyone know why I may have shredded my v-belt this weekend. Friday evening I replaced both belts with new ones. The old belts had been on a long time and were beginning to squeal at high rpm and also when i trimmed up. I ran the boat all weekend without any problems except the occasional smell of burning rubber. (the belt). By the time i returned home sunday got it on the lift and opened the hatch, i saw that the alternator belt had shredded and the powersteering belt was nearly knocked off the pulley (most likey by the shredded alt. belt). Anyone have any ideas of why this might have happened?
Too tight? Too loose? Defective belt? problems with the pulley's?

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

Lance

p.s. i used belts i bought from an automotive store if that makes a difference. I figured they'd be the same, just less expensive.

I am assuming you had no problem before you changed belts. Changing belts in boats sometimes can be a pain & you have to remove other parts to get the belt on. So did you just loosen the alt & power steeriing or did you remove something?

I just loosened the alt. and the powersteering, then once replaced I pulled them tight and retightened the bolts. It was a simple 5 minute job.

The only problem i was having before was the whining from the belts at startup, then at high rpm, and when i trimmed up the outdrive at speed.

Since the old belts were lasting, I would say bad belt? or did they sell you a no name off brand belt? All I have ever done is gone down to auto parts house & gotten new belt, then have given me a choice between who makes them & I go with the gates belts only because I have had good luck with them.

Actually yeah. I had originally bought both belts (brand name) at autozone. Then I found out that i got the wrong size for the alt. belt. The closest store to me was carquest, so i picked up a belt there (carquest brand). And that is the one that failed. Maybe I'll pick up another from autozone and give it a test this weekend.

My Alternator belt squels too at high RPM. It needs to be replaced. Do you know the number for the belt by any chance? I have a 96 502. Or do i just go to autozone and ask for a belt for a 96 suburban 7.4 ?

It's probably best just to take the belt with you, most places have a belt measuring device to ensure you get the right replacement size.

My experince with those cheap genaric belts is they tend to stretch a bunch after you first put them on ,so after an hour your running a loose belt and if your turning 5000 rpm's it doesn't take long to throw them.Also might want to look at your pulleye, if they are heavily rusted they will tear up belts.

Exactly what he said, new belts stretch!!! Unless you have a spring tensioner system after a accouple runs recheck the tension on the belts.

If you have a toothed belt like the one in the lower left of the picture it will last about 1 hour with the tensioner pully pushing on the back of the belt. I changed over to a regular v belt and have had no problems.

BTW very hard to find the regular V belt in that size, most have the teeth.

If you have the same style setup I have the correct belt #'s written down somewhere.