Never replace a belt ever again. Snake oil Pehaps ???

[Mighty Mike]

A week or two ago this video popped up my Youtube recommendation list and seeing a Pajero timing belt thread pop up on here, I thought I might  share this here, getting the forums inputs as to what the opinion is here. It consists of doing a simple procedure before installing pretty much any belt on your car can and literally make it last for many many many miles more than its supposed to. 
 

Belt changed at 68k miles and now with almost 250k miles ( not kms ) on it, it still looks in very good condition, further digging around I also came across these 

 

 

And this 
 

So basically its this 303 aerospace protectant, I did some more looking around in other forums, websites, reviews etc etc and seems like it does have have a very good reputation every where and people seem to use it for a wide variety of applications from the above to even detailing tyres, interiors, restoring dull or greyed out plastics and even tough outdoor marine use and pretty much on anything but fabric.

The white milky appearance of this not available locally 303 aerospace protectant reminded me a lot of the yellow STP Sun Of A Gun Protectant spray bottle which is available locally  and looking through many videos came across one which actually uses that 
 

I dunno, I'm pretty much game for cheap ( which make sense to me ) upgrades or fixes. and till date don't think I've ever regretted anything as such. I dunno I might try this on one of my older much simpler engined vehicles, or maybe start off with wiper blades although in this country where you only need them for like 2 days in a year really wouldn't reveal much.

So anybody thinks this is a good idea?

 

Edited April 16, 2018 by Mighty Mike

[treks]

This sounds like snake oil. 

Unless a credible evaluation is made and published by a reputable laboratory showing that this stuff can repair a timing belt on the molecular level to restore it to the state it was in when it was new, this will always be snake oil. 

[Barry]

There are conditioning sprays out there which may work to an extent but I wouldnt expect a massively increased life of rubber products and I certainly wouldn’t rely on them when it comes to something like a timing belt on an interference type engine. If these products were so good everyone would be using them to save labour times. Belts are cheap, change them when you need to. 

[Gaurav]

I am not against and nor in favor of the belt treatment, although it sounds VERY PROMISING and there is no harm in trying once on the exterior belts like AC, Steering and Fan. Of course not with timing belt unless fully convinced.

I'm using WD40 on all my belts first squeak I hear and to be honest, I think I have delayed the change period. I do exactly what above video showed but with WD40 when the vehicle is off, I spray generously as far as I can reach and wait for 2 minutes and start engine and let it run for 15-20 seconds and spray again with engine off - do it 3-4 times until belts become moisturized and all squeaking has gone.

I'm using Pajero for 7 years now - only long ownership car, rest all I flip within 2 years. First two times I changed all my belts within 2 years time, and now since 3-4 years, I haven't changed them.

I know before few people jump about WD40 so here what it says it can do and yes it's composition is rubber and leather-friendly.

https://www.wd40.com/img/WD-40_2000_uses.pdf

WD-40's main ingredients as supplied in aerosol cans, according to U.S. Material Safety Data Sheet information, are:

• 50% "aliphatic hydrocarbons". ...
• <25% petroleum base oil. ...
• 12–18% low vapor pressure aliphatic hydrocarbon. ...
• 2–3% carbon dioxide. ...
• <10% inert ingredients.

[Mighty Mike]

Well when it comes to such CB DIY things, I don't take professional mechanics advise too seriously because after working for so long professionally the are set in their ways and disregards anything which does go according to book. Also there are a lot of old skool mechanic tried and tested tricks that are forgotten now, this seems to be one of them.  

I think gaurav has at least an open mind about this, and I would be game on trying this whenever a belt change on any of my vehicles came up next. Yes would'nt mess with this on something like a timing belt just yet. 

Other than that. A further look at this 303 Aerospace protectant it seems very promising, a lot of heavy duty marine use and also car detailers seem to swear by this stuff. 

Anybody seen this stuff locally ? Would love to give it a try

[treks]

 

4 hours ago, Gaurav said:

I am not against and nor in favor of the belt treatment, although it sounds VERY PROMISING and there is no harm in trying once on the exterior belts like AC, Steering and Fan. Of course not with timing belt unless fully convinced.

I'm using WD40 on all my belts first squeak I hear and to be honest, I think I have delayed the change period. I do exactly what above video showed but with WD40 when the vehicle is off, I spray generously as far as I can reach and wait for 2 minutes and start engine and let it run for 15-20 seconds and spray again with engine off - do it 3-4 times until belts become moisturized and all squeaking has gone.

I'm using Pajero for 7 years now - only long ownership car, rest all I flip within 2 years. First two times I changed all my belts within 2 years time, and now since 3-4 years, I haven't changed them.

I know before few people jump about WD40 so here what it says it can do and yes it's composition is rubber and leather-friendly.

https://www.wd40.com/img/WD-40_2000_uses.pdf

WD-40's main ingredients as supplied in aerosol cans, according to U.S. Material Safety Data Sheet information, are:

• 50% "aliphatic hydrocarbons". ...
• <25% petroleum base oil. ...
• 12–18% low vapor pressure aliphatic hydrocarbon. ...
• 2–3% carbon dioxide. ...
• <10% inert ingredients.

I agree, wd40 does work on neoprene belts. However, the hydrocarbons and petroleum oil in it is pure poison to both natural and synthetic rubber, so just make sure you never use it on any belts that contain even a smidgen of rubber. 

Edited April 17, 2018 by treks

[treks]

2 hours ago, Mighty Mike said:

Well when it comes to such CB DIY things, I don't take professional mechanics advise too seriously because after working for so long professionally the are set in their ways and disregards anything which does go according to book. Also there are a lot of old skool mechanic tried and tested tricks that are forgotten now, this seems to be one of them.  

I think gaurav has at least an open mind about this, and I would be game on trying this whenever a belt change on any of my vehicles came up next. Yes would'nt mess with this on something like a timing belt just yet. 

Other than that. A further look at this 303 Aerospace protectant it seems very promising, a lot of heavy duty marine use and also car detailers seem to swear by this stuff. 

Anybody seen this stuff locally ? Would love to give it a try

Meh. I never give the advice of professional mechanics a second thought myself. They are all idiots who have no clue what they are doing. 

[Barry]

I've worked with a lot of old school mechanics before I came to UAE, proper old school 60+ year old guys who where scared of fuel injection and thought ECUs were the work of Satan. I had a long stint in the restoration industry. I learned a lot of neat tips and tricks but nobody ever recommended spraying stuff on belts to make them last longer.

In my opinion, it really is a pointless exercise considering the minimal price of replacement. If I had to recommend one thing to spray on rubber parts it would be silicon spray. It's fantastic on bushings, door and window seals etc, it can prevent them from drying out with regular application, but belts, nah. Change it. They're dirt cheap and you can buy from companies like Gates who produce belts for a lot of the manufacturers for dirt cheap. I've seen many cars running 200k miles and never had a single belt changed, fan belt, water pump, alternator, even timing belt but I've also seen them fail at 20-30k on brand new cars.

Which poses a question, do sprays offer a placebo effect with regards to belt longevity? You could have been spraying your belt for 100k but who's to say it would have ran for that long anyway without it? If I seen some proper scientific studies rather than look wow shiny, I might change my mind but for now my opinion stands.

You also need to be careful spraying stuff on belts, deposits build up over time. Which can especially affect flat and toothed belts. The sprays can collect dirt which builds up and keeps building up at every application which can lead to slippage. If your timing belt decides to jump a tooth, all this extra lubrication and misfitment can just as easily cause it to jump 5 and let me tell you, grinding in 24+ valves by hand isn't fun.

[treks]

The biggest problem with belt sprays is that their manufacturers have managed to convince the public that a couple of applications of the spray is equal to a belt replacement.  

A lot of it has to do with price too- many customers would much rather pay a few dollars for a mechanic-in-a-can, than fork out a much larger sum for a belt replacement, no matter how cheap the belt is. 

You also raise an interesting point about the placebo effect. If everything is as it should be on an engine, in the  sense that the tensioner on a serpentine belt is operating at the correct tension, all pulleys are properly aligned, and there is no damage to any pulley, the belt should last well beyond its recommended replacement mileage, regardless of how many times it had been "treated" with some miracle spray. Then again, if say, the tensioner is not keeping the belt tight, or even one pulley is misaligned, the belt will fail prematurely, again regardless of how many times it had been treated.

Gaurav said previously that the belts on his Pajero is lasting much longer since he began treating them with wd40, and while I agree that wd40 will silence an occasional squeak, repeated applications of the stuff will also build up a residue over which the belt might start to slip. Thus, the belt squeaks because it is slipping- a new application of wd40 silences the belt until it starts slipping again, more wd40, more slippage, more wd40, and so on and so forth.

In the end, it might have been better just to replace the belt when it was due for replacement, even if it just to avoid having to treat slipping belt all the time.       

[desertdude]

I think what MM was trying to say is most "professional mechanics" being so locked into going by the book is they can't think out of the box ad immediately poo poo any notion they havent heard or see before! 

Lord knows I remember I created a malestorm here when I suggested using diesel oil in flat tappet motors and water ingestion decarbonization !!!!