Serpentine belt does not fit Topic is solved

[erikv11]

The good news is, you're not going crazy! Or maybe you are, now ...

[scot850]

They can be a challenge to fit when new as they are tight. I use the method mentioned and try to leave the belt slightly forward on any of the pulley wheels without a lip as this gives a fraction of extra length. I wish you luck! Having someone to hold the tensioner at max open may give you the extra help of having 2 hands to wrestle with the belt!

Neil.

[MadeInJapan]

3 = 3 mm too short? That would do it.

[cn90]

Just to digress...

Whenever I install any new parts, I always check the new part against the old part before installation.
This helps avoid frustration, been there done that...

[mydamnvolvo]

Serpentine belts used to fall of my van when I drove through puddles. I feel you. I, too, lose my mind over things like this only to be corrected by someone who sees the answer right in front of me. Good luck!

[jreed]

Here is a copy of the email I received from a customer service rep from one of the main vendors:
"Hi Jason,
Sorry about that! I was just alerted via my purchasing guys that Continental sent us a batch of these belts that were labeled incorrectly and were slightly too short to install on the car. As we don't have any of these on the shelf and are still working this issue out with Continental, I can't just send you a new one unfortunately so I'm going to go ahead and refund you for the original purchase of the belt as it is incorrect. Sorry about that!
Let me know if I can help you with anything else, or if you have any more questions!"

This belt was wrapped in a Continental cardboard wrapper with "6K1743" printed on it, but the belt itself was stamped 6K1740. I didn't check the marking on the belt itself until after I had tried a few times to wrap it around all the pulleys.

[AlanKot]

Hey guys,

Here is the update. New (correct) belt came in... 5 minutes and it was done. I really thought I was going crazy. Now on to the wife's XC - at least now I know what I am doing and I have the right belt. Thanks again for your help!

Alan

[erikv11]

Thanks for the closure. Pesky!

Just to digress...

Whenever I install any new parts, I always check the new part against the old part before installation.
This helps avoid frustration, been there done that...

This is good practice but probably wouldn't help in this case. You're not likely to pick up a few mm difference in comparing belts by hand. Only way would be to think to check the part number on the belt, versus the number on the box/sleeve, like was posted about.

[skloon]

When I did my RN swap I fought with the belt for an hour gave up - the next am it slipped on in seconds-

[j-dawg]

I once fought with a PEX parking brake cable for something like an hour over a few days before noticing that the o-ring it came with was much fatter than the one on the cable that came off. Swapped the o-rings and the parts slipped right in.