serpentine belt and thermostat

[lawton_kid]

Just wanted to detail a couple of experiences to maybe help someone out.

1. Was having a heck of a time getting the correct size serpentine belt for my '94 Esky with 1.9L. Carquest was showing a xxxxx535 belt, which after a day or two let the tightener actually hit the nearby p.s. pump pulley.
Finally come to find out that their computer was wrong and they should have recommended a xxxxx532 belt. (Most brands of belts will have these 3 numbers in there somewhere, usually at the end). Checker also was showing this xxxx535 belt as correct, but it WAS TOO LONG. A xxxx530 or xxxx532 will work just fine on my '94. Don't know if this is an isolated problem or not.

2. Thermostat: was also having a bear of a time getting the engine to warm up on cool mornings. Tried to thermostats from Carquest to no avail. Went to Napa to check out theirs, and theirs were exactly the same, so didn't bother.
Come to find out that the whole problem was in the thermostat HOUSING. There is some kind of a plastic ball in there that acts as a check valve or something and was letting all the coolant bypass the thermostat as it was warming up. This ball/check dealy is on the top of the thermostat housing and is actually part of the housing. If you have it off and look at it carefully you can see the white ball in one of the holes. This motor had gotten hot (blew head gasket) and it looked like a piece of white ball had broken off, and was lodged in a nearby hole. Anyway, got a used one from the junkyard and all is well.

Hope this helps someone,
Kid