Dayco Aftermarket UK has a word of warning for members of the trade who are wisely looking to increase their front-end auxiliary drive (FEAD) system sales.

 “Alongside timing belt kits, that factors and workshops now deal with every day, the sale of FEAD components is one of the few under developed opportunities left in the aftermarket,” explains technical manager, Chris Showan.

“However, the proliferation of parts that has occurred in virtually every sector of the business has also affected the auxiliary belt market and led some suppliers to limit the number of belt options they offer. Their theory being that some belts will fit several applications, even though the officially specified application is a different length. They base this assumption on the faulty premise that the movement of the automatic tensioner will take up the disparity in the length of the belt.

“This is a very risky approach however, not least because the technician is actually installing the wrong part, but also because in recent years the amount of movement in an automatic tensioner has reduced by as much as 80%. So whereas it might have been possible in the past for a tensioner with 100mm of movement to take up the slack in a longer than specified belt, a modern automatic tensioner with only 20mm of movement would leave the belt dangerously under tension.

“Although the auxiliary belt is not directly a safety critical component, there have been cases where the belt has snapped/shredded and broken the timing belt cover and as a result, debris has entered the timing drive system and caused the failure of the timing belt.

“In addition, as the auxiliary belt 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, which could in effect, make it un-driveable.”

Dayco is in no doubt that only auxiliary belts of the correct specification are suitable when fitting a replacement and with more than 800 in its range, is able to provide the solution for virtually every vehicle the workshop is likely to come across.

For more information regarding the complete range of Dayco auxiliary belts and tensioners, email: [email protected] or visit: www.dayco.com

Dayco is available through Universal Automotive.