I was working on eXentric's stereo system last weekend and I noticed that his alternator belt was getting chewed up for unknown reasons. It was literally only about half as wide as it should be. Something is tearing it up from the backside. You can still see alot of frayed parts. He is going to get it fixed but hopefully this is a random issue. I would still be inclinded to at least do a quick visual inspection to see if other cars are doing this. If they are then there may be a pulley issue. The last thing anyone needs is to lose an alternator belt and then get stuck when the battery dies.

Hopefully this is an isolated problem but just to be safe, check your belts!

 

Would the warreny cover the belt?

 

yes

 

Well, the "warranty" would.

What the heck is that on your cats head?

 

checked my belts last night and they are fine
maybe its just his car unfortunetly

 

I checked it earlier today at the gas station. Looked fine...

Checked the oil also. Seems like I'm one of the 1 Quart per 1200-1500 miles. No biggie, not much else to do while waiting for the gas pump to finish filling the kitten up.

 

My belt is fine also.

 

"What the heck is that on your cats head?"

jonalan is obviously not a fan of ehowa.com

 

My oil consumption runs about the same as yours. Do you drive aggressively? I do.

 

It's a tequila cat with a twist of lime. What the heck does it look like? :D

 

Bookmarked. I'll have to check it out (after business hours).

 

Yes, check your belts!!!

I had mine up on a lift last Saturday for an oil change and also found the lower belt (power steering and other things) was also chewed up to a point where it was about half the thickness of what it should be at one point.

I saw no signs of glazing as if the belt was mis-aligned or had a bent pulley.

I dropped it off at my dealer yesterday and they had to order a belt as they do not stock them yet. I got it back today.

 

did they have any ideas as to why the belt way fraying so quickly???

 

Glen220: The lower belt is the air conditioner compressor drive belt. (the car has fully electric assist power steering) Be that as it may - mine seems awfully tight. The less than thorough owners manual doesn't state how much belt deflection there should be, or which run between pulleys it should be measured at though!

I read a few times that overtensioning the belts (especially the a/c belt) on older rotaries could cause the eccentric shaft to break at the pulley attachment point. That wouldn't be too cool.

 

Redline first and second everytime I get on the freeway...does that count

Also I take the back "mountain" roads once or twice a week late at night, or early in the mornings however you want to look at it.

 

Would that be covered by the warranty?

 

.......Glen220: The lower belt is the air conditioner compressor drive belt. (the car has fully electric assist power steering) Be that as it may - mine seems awfully tight.....


Thanks, I couldn't tell what that belt was driving and it was best seen from the underside of the car. When the car was back on the ground I could not tell what it was driving without diving in with a flashlight.

Of course the belt was covered under warranty, it was just a pain in the butt to have to leave it overnight why the belt was overnighted in.

When I picked up the 8 I asked the dealer if there were any other problems like a mis-aligned pulley, etc. and they said "No, just a bad belt.".

 

I checked tonight when I did my fog light mod. no fraying. a tiny little bit of outside wear on the smaller lower belt. Turned over 10,000 today while I had it out. DID have the frothy oil look on my dipstick tonight-return trip was in upper 20s. I'd say it looks like Starbuck's mocha Frappacino - but probably doesn't taste as good! On the 3rd wipe it was mostly gone but a small bit on the end of the dipstick. Nothing to worry about-oil looked good as did level.

 

Hey,

I just took my 8 in for an alternator belt change. It was frayed on the cabin side of the belt. I showed it to a freind who is also an rx7 race driver. He showed me that the pulley assemblies were out of alignment. I talked to the tech at mazda and asked him if he knew why the belt freyed. He said no but they did replace the belt. I told him well I guess I better keep an I on it huh? He said yah I guess. So much for dealer machanics. I wish I had seen this thread before I took it in. I would have printed it and shown that this was not an isolated issue. Do you think Mazda knows about this issue and is just playing the numbers game hoping it won't be a big repair issue, like wearing parts from misalignment?