How do you change a fan belt on a vw camper?

Answer 1

It depends on how old the car is.

Campers before 1972 had Bug engines in them. You change belts on them by first rotating the engine, with a 30mm socket on the crank pulley bolt, until the cutout in the back half of the pulley is visible. Then you stick a big screwdriver in the cutout, remove the nut holding the pulley on with a 21mm socket, take off the front half of the pulley, remove the old belt and put on the new, and then it starts to get weird: you adjust the tension by putting in or taking out the shims between the pulley halves. You want 12mm free play in the belt, and it takes usually about three or four times to get it right. But right you must, since this is how your engine is cooled.

Campers 1972 and on had Type 4 engines in them. You change their belts by removing two covers, loosening some bolts - LOOSEN!!! not REMOVE!!! - then push the alternator left to remove the belt and right to tighten it up again. On this engine the belt tightness is important to keep your battery from dying, but VW bolted the fan to the end of the crankshaft so the belt no longer cools the engine.