Need Serpentine belt info: `97SE
 

I have 86000 miles on my 97 SE, and I'm on my second GM belt and it needs replacing again. I see people here use Gatorback belts. I presume they are at least as good as factory. If there's a better brand, let me know. But presuming Gatorbacks are reasonably good, my questions are:
(1) Where can I get them? -Are they available at Autozone or Pep Boys; or do you order them via Internet somewhere?
(2) Do we have a part number for the serpentine belt for the NA Series 2 for my 97 SE?
(3) Rough ideas what they cost?

TIA!
-Mark

Any of the parts puppies. they'll look up the part number. Mine was $26, I think.

And before you ask, there's a belt-routing diagram under the hood, as well as on the sleeve around the belt itself. :D

Autozone should sell the Gator Back... I have better than 6 years on both... Never a single issue...

The Belt will be near $30

If there is not a belt routing diagram under the hood, thumb through the owners manual and you'll see one for the L36 ;)

__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

Thanks, I don't need any extra info on routing or installing, I'm well-familiar with all the existing threads on that topic. Just needed info on the part itself.
Thanks, I'll stop by Pep Boys, and if they don't have it I'll hit AutoZone.

Bugsi.. when you say 2nd belt do you mean it's been on for a while? If not you may have a tensioner or pulley issue.

Not to go off topic, Bob, but I found that the routing diagram on the packing sleeve of the gatorback belt was wrong for my '97 NA L36. Just FYI. ;)

<Edited for clarity> :roll:

It's been on for a number of years, I think my tensioner and pulley are okay, I just think the OEM belt is less than great. I have had a variety of obviously wrong advice on the status of my serpentine belt. For example, the day after the belt was replaced by my dealership (several years ago), I had my car at my tire dealer for an alignment or something, and in their "additional inspection" of stuff like the battery and whatnot, they checked off that I needed a new belt. It's easy to call BS when you just had it replaced the day before. My dealership did the same thing with my wiper blades and noted on their ten-point inspection that I needed new ones the day after I replaced them.

These obviously idiotic attempts to drum up business where none is needed aside, my dealership did note about a year later that I needed a new belt. I took a look at it, and it was fine. There were some cracks across some of the ribs, but all the ribs were intact. Even the Haynes manual explains that cracks across ribs are no problem, but that stripped-away ribs are a cause to replace. I pointed this out to my dealership and they changed their mind and said I could get more time out of the belt. It's been on for a couple more years, but now some of the rib sections are breaking away, so I want a new belt. I'm a little pissed that they didn't bother to replace it when they just did the upper and lower intake manifolds.

In any case, I'm not going to use the OEM belt again, since the one the dealership installed had much cracking after a year.

FWIW, Pep Boys does not carry Gatorback (they carry Dynaflex) but Autozone carries Gatorback. I'll get it there.

interesing i had a stock belt on for 10 years, with out a singel issue...i only replaced the belt because of age.....you are going through belts too fast, make sure that your belts are aligned properly on all the pulleys

No.. he replaced it when it needed it. Your's was most likely reduced to a few strings. (shakes head about 13 year old plug wires)

no Bill the Belt was still in perfect working order and not stretched out i keep it in the trunk as a replacement

....i know its in fun, but please dont make claims on my cars mechanical condition, its in better shape than 99% of the cars on this club thanks to Dad, if it needs replaced it gets done, so when your the ASE/GM Certified Tech for 10 years, and specifically worked on the 3800, then you can talk some smack on my SLE ;)