Serpentine Belt Question

[DavidPIL]

Hey everyone....So last week I had the serpentine belt replaced. Took it to my Pontiac service place. I call them after having waited 5 hours and find out that they didn't have a belt for me so they got one from NAPA. Not a big issue, right?Well, I drive to Ohio (about a 200 mile trip one way), when I come to my off-ramp, I notice a burning/rubbing kinda smell from the engine. This happens now every time I stop, I smell what seems to be my belt rubbing, but I check and don't see anything wrong. I figure, maybe it's just the new belt needing to be broken in somehow.Anywho, today I check the NAPA site thinking that maybe they put the wrong one on...and yeah, it's the right one listed... But then I check the Matrix Belt for the 2ZZ engine and it's different. So which is correct, does anyone know?Has anyone else had an issue with something rubbing causing a burning smell after changing the belt? If the Matrix and Vibe belts are different, is it possible that I need the larger one anyway? I mean, before this change I had the belt changed at a Toyota dealership with no issue.Any info would be greatly appreciated!Thanks!

[joatmon]

I wouldn;t expect the new belt to smell like burning rubber unless something was wrong, so keep an eye on it, check the edges for signs of wear. Maybe they messed up the tensioner and it isn't tracking straight anymore. Also check for some foreign object other than the belt, maybe on the exhaust header or pipe that might be burning off, maybe the shop got sloppyI think that the difference in belt length betweeen Matrix and Vibe is due to the differences in the HVAC system, I think trixes use a different AC compressor. There is a similar difference on the base models as well.This is your third belt, did you have any issues that made you need to change it? How many miles on the car?

[DavidPIL]

Hey! Thanks for the response...I did some investigating work on it today and I don't think it's the belt now. It seems to be tracking ok, no noticeable alignment issues. And you may be right about the header. I let it idle for a while, didn't notice anything till it got warm then I leaned into the engine bay and smelled around. Seemed to e coming from behind the engine, near the firewall - right above the exhaust header. I didn't see anything that could be the problem though maybe something got between the heat shield and pipes. As for the reason for changing, I had my local Toyota place inspect around 60k about 2.5 years ago and they said it was showing signs of wear. I'm just under 117k now and figure it's about time to change. I I think I read somewhere that it should be checked yearly (every 12k miles) and I do have it checked but for me a year puts on 20-22k. No major issues with the last belt really. Just figured it was about that time.Thanks for the reply!