Need a new A/C belt, how long & how many ribs?

[DaJackal]

Hiya guys,

Couldn't find this using search and the part numbers aren't helping me either,so:

My A/C & PS belt has gone noisy lately. It's presumably fairly old belt and they are cheap, so I need a new one. The problem is that I have no idea what size the belt is.
How many ribs should it have, and how long should it be? I can't take the old one with me to the shop since my garage is 60 kilometers away from the nearest automotive store, and DSMs are really rare here so it's no use to ask from a shop.

Anyone remember these "belt specs"? CAPS gives me p/n MB878687, but even google can't find me the dimensions...

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

A/C & P/S Belt 510K5. 51" Long 5 Rib. This could have EASILY been accomplished by going to Autozone or CSK's website. A belt is a belt. Nothing special about a DSM one.

 

[urmomsaniceguy]

i tried to use the one autozone rec. for my DSM and it was too short. my suggestion take a piece of rope and wrap it around where the belt would go and measure it. but 5 ribs is correct

 

[DaJackal]

I'm sorry for asking a "stupid" question like this, but I didn't even come to think of checking AutoZone webbsite for this info since we don't have an AutoZone here. Besides, I really tried to google this with many different search strings but no result, so I decided to turn to you guys. And yes, I know, belt is a belt, I can get one from almost any local shop, but the problem was just to get the one with correct dimensions. If I go to a local automotive store and ask for an A/C belt for Eclipse the sales clerks will just be like :O 'cause they hardly know that the model even exists.

Anyway, thanks a lot for this! I think I'll buy the 51" 5-rib belt today - it should fit, at least by adjusting the tensioner correctly... but I think I'll make the rope check before I take the old one off (thanks urmomsaniceguy!).

 

[turbosax2]

This was answered correctly already, but I want to add one thing. You obviously know how to use CAPS since you found the part number, but it also displays the size of the belt. In both the "part name" and "remarks" columns, you'll see 1290. This is the size of the belt in millimeters. Convert that to inches (50.8") and there you go.