What a nice day!!!

[Pocket_Rocket]

I was off today, on a warm and sunny day for once, and decided to go see my mechanic about that hard shaking my Festy now had around 110KM/H...The engine had been getting noisy and leaking oil in the last few months, and had just past the 125000 mile mark, but have been getting worse since yesterday too. It was like a mixed grinding and clicking noise, kinda like when your motor is low on oil, so I figured my lifters or valvetrain were getting worn. I was at the last traffic light before my repair shop, and when I got off, the noise stopped and the charge light came on...Pulled in the shop's parking, open the hood, and found out the alternator belt just snapped. It just so happened that my mechanic had some spare time, and the parts store had the belt in stock...All was fixed in 20 minutes, and had time to check out my shaking problem. Turned out my front tires were worn with some wires starting to come out (I know I know, kinda stupid, I always imagine the worst and miss the obvious) and were out of balance. Turns out he had two 155/80-12 almost brand new tires that he didn't even know he had, and since he wanted to get rid of them, I got them for 10 bucks each. Got 'em installed, and the shaking was gone, and the new belt cured my engine noise (the old belt was missing many teeth, and may have been over-tightened, which caused the noise), so I left with a smooth driving, smooth running car, for under 90 bucks, without a hassle, un-stranded with the rest of a beautiful day to enjoy. Don't you just love it when everything just works out? I'll take this kind of day any time!!!

[Damkid]

Awesome day!! i love it when i have those kinds of days too

[stefan]

cool... but teeth on your alt belt?

[Pocket_Rocket]

Yes, I had a Gates alt belt, and there was some square teeth, which doesn't seem to serve any real purpose...

[jglutz]

Yep....sure was a nice day...left work early and spent the rest of the sunlight getting the garden prepared.

[Bathtub Tom]

Yes, I had a Gates alt belt, and there was some square teeth, which doesn't seem to serve any real purpose...

I think you'll find they're there to allow the belt to flex more, without putting extra strain on it.
Think of it as 'chunks' for grip on the pulleys, but the 'cut outs' allow greater flex!