Help me settle a dispute...

J3ff

Local place here special ordered me a belt for the motor, based on my serial number. 135 bucks - it doesn't fit, it's too big.. they told me "too bad so sad" and that I must have removed something or have it routed incorrectly.

I normally go with the gates 30 dollar amazon one, but my last one got chewed up by an idler pulley and I decided to go with the normal one. Now I have a worthless to me 135 dollar belt. 

The one they ordered me, based on engine serial number is part number 57-865615-003

This results in the below photo:



This is the gates 30 dollar belt, in this one the tensioner is not even half way up the channel, in the other it is all the way as high as it can go:


So the question is - do any of you know the exact part number for the 383 fresh water cooled mercruiser?? 

This is probably going to escalate to the credit card charge back route... I have not had good luck using the serial number to buy parts, but the SMUG guy behind the counter wasn't listening to me. Now they are trying to tell me it's my fault. Good luck with that!

aero3113

I don’t think it should matter if fresh water cooled or not. Here is the part number for my raw water cooled engines.

aero3113

If it’s an OEM belt, you should be able to see “Mercury” and the part number on the belt. It’s possible they gave you aftermarket if you don’t see this.

randy56

to bad so sad, would be the last time doing business with them, and everyone in my world would know how they treat there customers. Maybe you can cross reference the one you have and find what it does fit and re sell it  

Cableguy Greg

I would think the belt would be the same as the 350Mag or 6.2MPI since they are all based on the same block. 

I agree that would be the last time I order from that place. 

According to the Mercury Parts finder site, 865615-003 is an old number. That has been superseded by 865615-Q03

Ian

Dispute the credit card charge for failure to provide the correct goods and you tried to work with them.

Liberty44140

I know on the 350 horizons my 342 had there was a difference in belt between the FWC and RWC. I replaced the 12 yr old oem belts with gates and they ran great for 3 yrs for me and now 2 yrs for the new owner. I went gates last spring on my current engines and all good this summer. If your belt is getting chewed the issue is 99% not the belt unless the belt is very old. Most likely an alignment or pulley problem.

if the shop ordered the belt, which is obviously wrong, then it’s on them to make it right. You can use marine engines website to punch in your serial number to see what the right belt really is.

RiverRat232

I would walk in, ask for a refund or the proper part. If they refuse again, leave the part on the counter walk out and dispute the charge. Never do business with them again. Tell everyone.

J3ff

This is the belt they gave me. 

Grahamu

I have a direct link to Mercury. That belt shows up for a 383 MAG stroker bravo reman.
What is your serial # I will check with that

J3ff

randy56 said:

to bad so sad, would be the last time doing business with them, and everyone in my world would know how they treat there customers. Maybe you can cross reference the one you have and find what it does fit and re sell it  

The place gets one chance to make it right. If no response by Wed, it'll move to a dispute and when I get a refund I'll hang the belt on their doorknob. 

J3ff

Liberty44140 said:

I know on the 350 horizons my 342 had there was a difference in belt between the FWC and RWC. I replaced the 12 yr old oem belts with gates and they ran great for 3 yrs for me and now 2 yrs for the new owner. I went gates last spring on my current engines and all good this summer. If your belt is getting chewed the issue is 99% not the belt unless the belt is very old. Most likely an alignment or pulley problem.

if the shop ordered the belt, which is obviously wrong, then it’s on them to make it right. You can use marine engines website to punch in your serial number to see what the right belt really is.

Yeah, the original cause was that the water pump was leaking salt water, which messed up the bearings in the pulley, then that chewed up the belt. The pulley has been replaced with the correct pulley.. just need a new belt. New gates will here on Monday. The parts guy said he doesn't give out part numbers because people just order it on the internet. He's proving exactly why people do this, because dealing with a jerk behind the counter costs more money and takes more time than just submitting a quick order to amazon and being done w/ it. 

J3ff

Grahamu said:

I have a direct link to Mercury. That belt shows up for a 383 MAG stroker bravo reman.
What is your serial # I will check with that

Freshwater cooled or raw water cooled? It is a 383 stroker FWC with a bravo 3. I'll PM you my serial number, but just as I told the parts man, the serial number has lead me down the incorrect road in the past. 

J3ff

This is the correct gates belt for my specific engine. 105.5 inches in length. 

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/micro-v/belts-hoses-16454/belts-16521/belt---serpentine-type-12828/eebb7a080a6d/gates-micro-v-serpentine-belt/gamv/k061049

J3ff

yeah, I dunno, I just know that this belt doesn't seem to work. Maybe they gave me the wrong pulley, who knows. The gates one works great for 30 bucks, I should have just stuck w/ that. 

aero3113

Definitely possible they installed the wrong pulley. Either way they should find out why it’s not right for you.

Grahamu

@J3ff, I replied to your message

Grahamu

Checking the specs on both belts the Mercury one is 1" longer

J3ff

Grahamu said:

Checking the specs on both belts the Mercury one is 1" longer

I may have to measure this belt I have - maybe it's mislabeled, as I do think that 1 inch longer shouldn't be a big deal. 

Edit:measured it, came out to right about 107 inches give or take a half an inch. 

Not sure why it doesn't work on my engine.. I guess it's time to start measuring diameter's of pulleys? 

Eyeballing it, everything looks correct? 

alex8q4

The idler pulley on the top left looks like it’s adjustable.  There is a nut holding the pulley on and a hex head on the stud.   Loosen the nut, then turning the stud left and right should move the pulley up and down.

J3ff

alex8q4 said:

The idler pulley on the top left looks like it’s adjustable.  There is a nut holding the pulley on and a hex head on the stud.   Loosen the nut, then turning the stud left and right should move the pulley up and down.

The adjustable one is the one right above the steering pump. If you look closely you can see that in the photos that have the loose belt, the pulley is higher up than the one in the stock photo.. 

Stock photo, notice the little rounded metal behind the pulley top right:



Now, on the belt that works and is good



On the belt that was bought at the marine store.. no rounded corner showing, because the pulley is up so high it's blocking it.




I guess the question is, is 1.5 inches on a belt a huge amount that the adjustment can't overcome?

Grahamu

The specs for the Mercury belt is 106.45" the aftermarket is 105.5" , I agree 1" shouldn't make much of a difference. The pulley you changed is it the same diameter?

rasbury

I did not read it all...but mine busted, tool it to an auto parts store..matched up to a dodge something...bought two, the first one is still on there.

Grahamu

@Alswagg, the registration shows it as a 383MPI FWC Bravo Reman

J3ff

Alswagg said:

Do you have a 6.2 or 383?   These are different engines 

J3ff

I'll be down there tomorrow to look at the one that is on the block, all I have right now is the one on the 20k bill back when it was installed. Thank you for the insight on the idler pulley being different sized... which one is the idler, the one near the alternator or the one that is adjustable..?

J3ff

okay. I'll get the SN off the block tomorrow. Thanks AL. I suppose at this point we can assume that if there were two different sized idler pulleys, I've got the small one. Is there a way to tell what belt goes on a motor with the smaller idler pulley? 

The idler pulley that they gave me based on the SN of the motor is part number 8M6500024 - does that make sense to pair that with belt 57-865615-Q03 ? 

(Now that I look on the bill, the part ends in q03, but as shown in the picture the actual belt is stamped 003).

J3ff

aero3113 said:

If it’s an OEM belt, you should be able to see “Mercury” and the part number on the belt. It’s possible they gave you aftermarket if you don’t see this.

What's the part number of your idler pulley? any idea?

aero3113

@J3ff , I replaced one last season and kept it and the package from the one I replaced it with.

Liberty44140

The whole “I don’t give out part numbers” thing is alarming. Anyone can get part numbers on the internet. My mechanic puts the part numbers right on my bill. Sure they make some money on parts but they are there for the hourly rate. Both of my merc mechanics and now my Volvo mechanic are glad to help me diy things here and there as long as I keep paying them for the big stuff. I know it’s hard to find people to do work down there but this is not the place to stick with for sure. If he sells you a part, he should give you the freaking part number when there is a problem. 

J3ff

Okay, so you hve the same idler pulley that I put on today.. but for some reason the same belt doesn't work. At this point I give up on trying to figure it out. I guess as said before, it's time to measure every single diameter of pulley's to see wtf is going on. Or just eat the loss and move on. It does appear that the parts guy did not make a mistake based on what we've talked about here. 

I guess the only possibility here is that it's the wrong idler pulley... but then why does your belt work fine with the same part number pulley...? I will again have to verify that I've done the tensioner correctly, although I did check this 3 times today.. Anyone have a part number for the larger one? I admit I didn't compare the two. Will also do that in the morning. 

At the same time I noticed this today.. west marine will get about 200 bucks as soon as they open.. good start to their day! ( I tripped the breaker last week running 2 fridges, the built in one, an additional one, the burner, the micro, the tv, the ac , the battery charger and the hot water heater, all at the same time.  while making breakfast )