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My experience with drive belts on Asian makes is that some of the belts from Gates and Dayco are just a little bit longer or shorter than the original belts and tend to put the accessory drives close to the end of their adjustment brackets or go on a little tight. Also, Gates and Dayco make several types of each size, so if you do go with either of them, make sure you get their "premium" belts made with EDPM. A lot of aftermarket belts seem to have issues with squeeking not long after they've been installed. The original belts on Nissans are usually made by "Bando" or "Mitsuboshi" (not "Mitsubishi"). Bando brand belts can be had on the aftermarket from part stores like NAPA and Federated Auto Parts, but often have to be special ordered. So, if you go with aftermarket, I would recommend you get the Bando. There usually isn't much difference in the price of genuine Nissan belts and premium aftermarket belts, so it just makes sense to stick with genuine Nissan. As far as the seals, the Nissan cam seals have external grooves that make them install a lot easier then some of the aftermarket seals. Also, they sell the crank seal individually. A lot of times when you try to get a crank seal in an auto parts store, you have to buy an oil pump reseal kit to get the crank seal, which makes it more expensive. Genuine Nissan seals are often cheaper than aftermarket seals, as well. So, it just makes sense. You didn't mention it, but aftermarket thermostats, while considerably cheaper, seem to run a little colder than the original Nissan part and I've seen some be faulty right out of the box. The genuine Nissan thermostat usually puts the needle of the coolant gauge dead center, or just a hair below dead center. I've had some aftermarket thermostats put the coolant gauge needle about 1/3 of the way from the cold mark. Nissan, like most Asian makes, can be a little tricky when it comes to replacement parts. On some parts, aftermarket if fine, if you know what works and what doesn't. On others, the only way to go is genuine Nissan, or at least the OEM supplier of those parts to Nissan (companies like NGK, Hitachi, and Akebono).
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