Watch: What's Your Automotive Belt IQ?

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Counterman has been serving auto parts jobbers, retailers and distributors since 1983.
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Watch: What’s Your Automotive Belt IQ?

Belts are common replacement parts that most part stores stock. Every motor vehicle on the road has one or more belts and there are many types of them.

Mark Phillips
By Mark Phillips
Published:

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How much do you know about automotive belts? 

Hi guys, it’s Mark Phillips. Belts are common replacement parts that most part stores stock. Every motor vehicle on the road has one or more belts and there are many types of them. The point is you need to be familiar with the products you sell so you can help your customers get the correct replacement belts that match their needs. Selling the wrong product can have serious consequences. 
There are three basic types of automotive belts: V-belts and serpentine belts for driving the engine’s accessories, such as alternator, water pump, A/C compressor and power steering pump, as well as rubber timing belts for driving overhead camshafts.

V-belts are mostly history now, having been replaced by serpentine belts that allow a single belt to do the work of many belts. Serpentine belts are flat on one side and grooved on the other, but both sides can be used to drive pulleys. A V-belt, on the other hand, grips the pulleys with the sides of the belt. In either case, belt wear can allow the belt to slip and make noise. The original equipment serpentine belts in most late-model cars are made of EPDM rubber, which allows the belts to last up to 100,000 miles. That’s assuming no pulley misalignment, oil contamination or slippage due to a weak or broken automatic belt tensioner.

Several belt suppliers now have special tools for checking wear in the belt grooves. Well, that it’s all for today’s episode of Counter Intelligence. Keep those comments and questions coming, because we love ‘em. 

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Auto Industry

Customer Service: How It’s Done

Customer service should be your number one priority, and it all starts with the greeting.

Eric Garbe
By Eric Garbe
Eric Garbe is a graduate of Columbus State Community College with a degree in Automotive Maintenance Technology. He has extensive independent and dealership field experience as a technician and shop owner and is an ASE Certified Master Technician and former Adjunct Automotive Professor. He has been professionally writing automotive technical articles and documents for many years and in his free time enjoys restoring old cars and creating custom interiors and upholstery.
Published:

This is always an important topic to discuss, because I consider excellent customer service one of the most important tools you can have to earn trust, respect and repeat business from the customers that come through your door. Whether that customer is do-it-yourselfer from across town or the professional repair shop across the street, your business depends on a solid relationship.It’s a subject that I am passionate about, and it’s one that many people are losing touch with. Whether you are communicating to someone in person, on the phone or using some type of social media, good customer service and bad can both exist. You can’t afford the latter, so this is the first in a series of topics which can and should be shared from the front of the shop to the back. No matter which role you hold, you represent the shop and yourself. Customer service should be your number one priority.First on the list is the greeting. From the second a customer walks in the door, they need to know you appreciate them coming in and how important they are to your business. First impressions are everything and here’s the correct way to do it each and every time: look them directly in the eye, smile and say hello!Of course, you can say “Good morning” or “Welcome to Joe’s Autocare,” but it should be a formal greeting and the most important thing is that you have smiled, looked them in the eye and recognized that they have walked through the door.You should always retain a formal greeting until you are on a first-name basis with a customer. Only once you have established that level of relationship is it OK to use the less formal greeting of “Hi,” followed by the person’s name.This greeting does more than just indicate respect and appreciation for someone walking through the door. Most likely there are customers both new and old who are in earshot of your conversation. For newer customers, this continues to build rapport and reinforce their positive view of your shop; they see that you demonstrate respect and treat everyone in the same manner. For repeat customers, even ones that have been coming for years, the greeting is important because the way you treat them is the reason they continue to come.And when a long-time customer comes in and you greet them with “Hi [First Name],” this indicates your appreciation for them and that you’re glad to see them as a person, more than just a customer. New customers that witness this will see that your repeat customers are comfortable enough to be on a first-name basis, another indication of the trust they have in you.

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