Does anyone know of an upgraded alternator belt for a Perkins 4.154?

[Bill O]

We use a Dayco Gold Label Top Cog belt on our Perkins 4.236 w/a ~ 90 amp Delco alternator and it lasts more than a year. Using a better belt maybe one way to help out your situation.


Many good suggestions already given, but would check the condition of the pulleys (no xs wear or rust), check alignment and make certain the pulleys are for the same size belt.


Make certain your belt is riding properly in the groove. If not you may need a wider belt.

[Near2KR]

Many thanks for all the thoughtful replies!! Double belt or serpentine setups are not available for this engine and probably couldn’t be retrofitted as it has a belt driven water pump">raw water pump. Adding a belt or a wider belt would involve creating a new system to hold the raw water pump. After reading more reply’s and looking more closely I think rusty pulleys are the culprit. I’ll try to smooth them as I can and track down a green stripe belt. If I can get new pulleys from England I may have to go that route. Thanks again all!!

[Near2KR]

In the end it was almost certainly the pulleys. The alternator pulley was fine. The coolant pump and crankshaft pulleys were in horrible shape. We cleaned the coolant pump one with 80 and 120 grit paper and it is much much better but I’m still going to try to locate a new one. I was able to clean up the crank pulleys very well with the file method suggested. They are near perfect now and I suspect the source of most of the wear given the belt dust mustache right above it. Thanks again for every bodies help!

[tkeithlu]

Hmmm. Looks like a lot of cruisers have come up against misaligned alternator pulleys and belt problems, and each in turn found the solution. Looks like we all supported the belt economy in the process. I know I did.

Near2KR, you now have a short course in belts and pulleys, compliments of the forum.

[Near2KR]

For sure. This boat and forum combination has enlightened me in ways I’d never have imagined.

[Near2KR]

As a quick follow up. After filing the crank pulley smooth, we are still on the same belt. This belt has been from coco beach to marathon key and all the way back to New Hampshire. (Probably 450 hours)I think it’s spent now, but thought I’d close the loop for anyone else with this issue

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by Near2KR

In the end it was almost certainly the pulleys. The alternator pulley was fine. The coolant pump and crankshaft pulleys were in horrible shape. We cleaned the coolant pump one with 80 and 120 grit paper and it is much much better but I’m still going to try to locate a new one. I was able to clean up the crank pulleys very well with the file method suggested. They are near perfect now and I suspect the source of most of the wear given the belt dust mustache right above it. Thanks again for every bodies help!

Please let me know skipgundlach at gmail if you find a new replacement for the FW pump pulley.

I MIGHT be able to cross match if I knew the exact dimensions of the offset, mounting and clearance holes, and diameters, but so far I don't have those figures...