Oh! Great information. Thanks again! My whole thing about delaying, is the noise is faint so I figured I would wait til my next service and mention it in passing... and maybe get a possible free diagnosis. haha

 

You may hear a faint noise from the inside, but it's may be a lot louder from the outside. I don't know about you, but that noise just seems to be pretty embarrassing coming from the SC430 (from an old dodge sure it's OK, but from a pretty noticeable SC430 - hmm). Also, on top of the hood it has a diagram for how the belt should be put in. I use the car to pick up my daughter at school where lots of folks walking around and the noise is down right embarrassing. Our saving grace is a cheap/easy fix.

 

i don't think there's any reason to wait. nothing else would be making that noise. the dealership will only try to rip you off. even toyota tried to charge me $120 to replace it. i was a little annoyed after i did it myself and knew how easy it is.

 

+1 ^ yep, that is a unmistakeable sound...

Pretty straightforward...replace on your own with a little time and $40 or $120-$150 to replace at dealer.

I tried belt dressing, etc and none of it worked. My 02 with 25k miles on it needed replacing...I couldn't believe it. Time had dried it out and it started to crack/squeak.

GL and let us know how it goes

 

I am reviving an old thread! LOL.. I just ordered this for my gf's car since it does squeek when cold.. autozone, oreilly, napa, and advance auto parts dont seem to carry this belt any longer. However I just ordered it from a parts store on eBay for $15.79 SHIPPED!!

 

Mine came from NAPA, $40. Should be plenty available.

Sewell sells them for $38, OEM. Had I known, I would have bought the OEM.

Next time. That would be a long long time. These belts last 60K+ miles easy.

 

sweet! $15.79 well spent on eBay! I saved quite a bit!

 

I believe someone had reported the gatorbacks never squeak prematurely...only when they finally get cracked/worn out. The problem with the OEM's is that due to the large amount of our SC's being garage queens, they eventually get dry and have very tiny little cracks that we probably cannot see causing premature wear. Haven't tested this theory long term yet on the GB vs OEM, but makes sense.

 

The Gatorback appears to be much higher quality. I was a little surprised how flimsy the OEM belt was when I took it off.

 

my cars an 02 and theres no service history of the belt ever being changed. i bought the car with 65k miles a couple months ago and now i have 69K miles on it. there's no squeek but only when my a/c is on it squeeks. is that my belt or something else? it no longer squeeks now cause my a/c compressor or expansion valve? is shot.. a/c doesn't blow cold air no more and i've already tried recharging the a/c. I'm just trying to save up some money and do my T belt and seals and everything all at once.

 

Mine was a Gates Micro-V belt. Purchased at Oreilly's. Quiet.

•Micro-V
•UPC: 72053009507

 

all right heres a question; is the serpentine belt the same for all yrs sc430?

 

Yes.

This "Serpentine Belt" fits the SC430 and is for use with the 3UZFE engine. Which includes 2002-2010 model years.
Its part number is 90916-02584.

 

Sewell sells belt for $38 for CL members. Good deal.

Mine was OEM and was cracked. No noise though.

 

Thanks VVTiBob, I thought that they were all the same.