With ever increasing competition in the market and constant pressure on profit margins, the opportunity to develop a new revenue stream to help the business has got to be an attractive proposition to every UAN member.

The front-end auxiliary drive (FEAD) system presents members with just such an opportunity. Although not unfamiliar, as it is from the auxiliary belt that all current belt sales derive, with the massive growth of timing belts and kits over the last couple of decades, the auxiliary belt has taken something of a back seat.

However, the FEAD system is subject to similar mileage to the timing drive system, which means that it is reasonable to apply similar service principles to the auxiliary belt and the associated components that make up the FEAD system.

This is particularly relevant for members because although there has traditionally been no specific service interval for the auxiliary belt, some vehicle manufacturers are beginning to introduce one into their schedules and this opens the doors for opportunities for the independent sector.

There are a number of very important reasons why technicians should examine the FEAD system when the vehicle is in the workshop. Although the auxiliary belt is not directly a safety critical component, there have been cases where the belt has snapped and has broken the timing belt cover and the debris from that damage has caused the failure of the timing belt.

In addition, as the auxiliary belt in the modern vehicle now drives so many vital components – alternator, power steering pump, air conditioning compressor, vacuum pumps etc. – even if its failure does not directly stop the vehicle, it could certainly leave the driver without power to some parts of the vehicle that could make it in effect, undriveable.

As a result Dayco is urging members to be mindful of the profit opportunity the FEAD system provides and when they receive a timing belt request from their customers to suggest they examine the auxiliary belt and its associated idlers and tensioners and replace them while they have the system disassembled for the timing belt replacement.

Through its distributor, Universal Automotive, Dayco can provide members with the ‘a-WEAR-ness gauge’ a small but robust plastic tool that allows a technician to carry out three visual checks that will clearly reveal the condition of the belt. Once this assessment has been made and any subsequent examination of the tensioners and idlers, Dayco can provide members with the necessary replacements items.

Unlike timing belt kits, there are too many variable components to offer FEAD kits, but Dayco has made a huge investment in its manufacturing plants across the globe such as the recent acquisition on the Nytron Group in South America, to ensure the supply of its tensioners and idlers for both original equipment and aftermarket supply.

As a result it can now offer more than 700 tensioners and idlers to supplement more then 800 auxiliary belts to provide the maintenance and repair solution for virtually every vehicle the workshop is likely to come across.

The technical partnerships that Dayco has established with a growing number of vehicle manufacturers over the years has yielded many innovative design solutions to overcome many of the engine challenges that they face.

To further underpin the depth of range and the quality products that it manufactures for every level of the supply chain, Dayco now supplies both the timing and the auxiliary belts, plus all the tensioners for the new generation VW diesel engine which will be used for many of the models in the VW line up.

For more information regarding the OEM quality power transmission products in the Dayco range, please contact Universal Automotive on 01562 512512 or visit: www.dayco.com