My first tow :-(

[scheerce]

Had the 2002 232 BR out this weekend.  great weekend except the very end when we were ~500 yards from the ramp and i heard a "noise".  Popped up the sundeck and there was my S-belt. Flagged down a boater and he graciously pulled me to the ramp.  Took the belt to the O-Riley's in Osage Beach and got one exactly the same size, 106 3/8.  Absolutely could not get it on.  Then I noticed the tension pulley was already in the "down" position.  So it must have been there all along.  It was a Mercury belt that broke off.  I don't believe it was the proper belt.  That tension pulley should be almost all the way up, then you should be able to lower it to get the belt off.  So I ended up with a 108 x/x" inch belt that  i was able to get on and raise the pulley properly.  I hope that was not the original belt but it probably was.  Hard to imagine the factory would install a belt like that....

[Le Meez]

Glad to hear you're all fixed up and ready to go again.

[alswagg]

Think about it.  Somehow the OEM belt was installed and tensioned.  Either the new belt you bought was too short or you did not have all of the slack out of the pulleys.  The OEM belt lasted for 9 years???  How did the auto supply store locate the replacement belt?  Did they try to measure or cross referance?  The OEM Mercruiser belts are expensive but I have never had a replacement not fit correctly.  Al

[Oldntired]

Serpentine belts do not stretch.  So, as long as the belt has the tensioner in the proper place to put the proper tension on the belt, it does not matter where the tensioner is located.  Any length within the range of the tensioner is good.

[scheerce]

I took the belt to O'Rileys (only because it was labor day weekend and the boat shops were closed in my area). They tried to x-reference the merc number but their system didn't have a match.  So we measured the belt, making a mark and going around.  It measured exactly 106 3/8, which was the exact same size of a belt I could buy.  Thinking back, when I replaced the impeller, I had to put the belt on the pulley before bolting in the water pump because the belt wouldn't fit.  At that time I didn't look at the tension pulley.  This time I did utilize the tension pulley and it was locked in the fully down position.  That is not how a tension pulley is supposed to work. I can not say whether it was the factory belt, since I didn't buy the boat new.  I can only say it was a merc belt. The 108" belt is working (tested with muffs) but next time I head out I will have a spare belt just to make sure I can get back to the ramp in case it pops...  The only other choice was a 107" belt and I didn't think it would be big enough since there was about a 2" difference to make the 106 fit.  I believe the 108 with the tension pulley in the proper up position will work (I hope....).   Hopefully it will because it will make changing the impeller easier (at least getting the pump back on and the belt).

[alswagg]

previouse services, someone must have replaced the belt, or maybe even an incorrect idler pully.  Merc had two differant idler pulley's a 3" and a 4".  If a 4" was installed where the 3" was supposed to be, the OEM belt would be extreamly tight.  Good luck  Al

[scheerce]

Definitely a 4 inch pulley. If it was a three that 106is would have fit and would have been able to use it properly.