The drive belt system consists of the following components:

The drive belt system uses one belt. The drive belt is thin so that it can bend backwards and has several ribs to match the grooves in the pulleys. The drive belt is made of different types of rubbers (chloroprene or EPDM) and have different layers or plys containing either fiber cloth or cords for reinforcement.

Both sides of the drive belt may be used to drive the different accessory drive components. When the back side of the drive belt is used to drive a pulley, the pulley is smooth.

The drive belt is pulled by the crankshaft balancer pulley across the accessory drive component pulleys. The spring loaded drive belt tensioner keeps constant tension on the drive belt to prevent the drive belt from slipping. The drive belt tensioner arm will move when loads are applied to the drive belt by the accessory drive components and the crankshaft.