Went looking for the intermittent squeak I've been getting on cold [around freezing] starts on my 1987 EA82 GL.

 

The water pump's front bearing seal was in pieces, I could see the cage moving when I turned it.  Yikes.  But no play in the shaft yet.

 

But I also noticed the Gates Fleetrunner Green Stripe belts.  I don't even remember how long ago I bought those.  I'm pretty sure I've been running them on my various EA82s for over 10 years.  That same pair of belts.  They are still in good condition.  No cracks or anything.

 

 

As per owner's manual I used to replace belts every 30K miles.  Now I am reusing the old ones .

 

So far so good.

 

Sam

I've seen / had other belts wear out. Just not the fleet runners yet.

The only fleetrunner belts I could find were 1/2 inch in width, which I didn't think fit down in the pulley correctly. The last 1/2" one I bought seated with like 2mm of the belt above the pulley.

 

Do your fleetrunners sit flush or below? Maybe I was searching the wrong places. I have one in my "save for later" amazon section that I've been thinking about pulling the trigger on because I have cracks in my dayco after like 5k miles.

Mine are a hair above the flanges. The fleet runners measure .500". The napa premium xl belts on my identical car are .475" wide. Same belt sizes. Both belts in both cars ride a little above the top of the flanges. I never thought about it, I guess they really should be a little narrower. I've been running these cars with similar belts since 1988 never had a problem though. The only belt I ever had fail was one that came on a car, don't know what brand it was.

 

They take a little manuvering to get onto the power steering pulley, do those first. The part numbers for the configuration of my cars are 9451HD and 9390HD.

Thanks for the info Dave. My EA82 config seems to be a little less common, so finding the right belt size took me a little bit. It has no AC, and manual steering. Single belt, ~35.5 inches long. The 9350HD looks like it would do the trick. If it works for you being a hair above the pulley, I'm sure it will work for me!

 

Plus, amazon has them for 7 bucks right now instead of the 25 at napa. May snag it as we speak.

Edited March 27, 20188 yr by Nickoli

for that price, wow

Amazon's prices can fluctuate wildly.  One item I purchased recently for $8. Then two weeks later I was going to order more and it was $30.

Amazon is getting a little too big for it's britches, IMO. I've noticed the prices shifting a lot too, and shipping time has been increasing over the last couple years. I had a couple packages that arrived well beyond the estimated max date. I've been getting much better, faster service from independent eBay sellers.