How do you find the length of a serpentine belt by the product number?

Answer 1

The short answer is to call a knowledgeable local parts store and ask him. In the event that you have one sitting in your garage and don't know what car it goes to and don't have a phone handy, you might be able to find out thru the following example:

The Kelly-Springfield product number for certain Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth mini-vans with the 3.0L engine and air conditioning is 805k6. This means that this particular serpentine belt has a nominal length of 80.5 inches and has 6 ribs. I don't know what the "k" means. It may indicate a/c. Most serpentine belts are measured to include a/c because most cars have that feature. Because of the operation of the idler arm I would imagine, for example that an 80 or 81 inch belt with 6 ribs would work just fine.

The Gates belt for the same car is K060806, which is a good fit to the k-s number.

The Dayco number is 5060805 and does have 6 ribs.

The Adelco number is 6k806 and has 6 ribs, but is 81 1/8 inches in length. Obviously, it works even though it is 5/8" longer.

A good way to install the belt is to observe the belt routing scheme decal under the hood or in the owners manual. The decal or owner's manual may have the OEM

model number, also.

The K I believe is just a letter designation used by the belt industry to indicate an automotive application standard and just a series letter. The number after is the number of ribs the belt has.

Other letters are used for different applications, belt types etc. to fit purposes such as air compressors, tables saws up to milling machines etc.. That's what I think is the case but don't quote me on that.