How do you change the belt for the water pump on a 1996 Cadillac Eldorado?

Answer 1

I'm familiar with most Caddilacs and I believe its a serpentine belt that controls all the pulleys. If that is the case, follow these directions, if not Caddillac has a great forum web site that would address this. It's sponsored by indiviuals but Cadi Techs sign on for help.First read these directions carefully and see if removal of the battery will help you. I didn't need to on my Seville and eldorado but they were late models than yours. If you can get your hand to all those pulleys, you're straight. You will need a, or should get a, 1" ratchet wrench. The pulley on the top right side of the engine is the tension pulley and has 1" hole in the arm resting towards the back of the engine. Insert the wrench and make sure it's in tight (theirs quite a bit of tension there).Pull the wrench toward the front of the engine (with your ratchet wrench set accordingly, tightening position. This will lift the pulley and loosen the belt. Slide the belt off the components, paying attention to where and how the belt winds around the components. You should do this first as the diagrams can be a little confusing. You can bring the tension pulley back down but be aware of where it is resting, it may be neccassary to jam a wrench or pry bar against the block to keep it from hitting the alternator fan or other frail component, Be careful of those Power Steering lines that run around there. Next, check all those pulleys for sounds or stiffness, except for the flywheel they should move freely by hand (except the air conditioner but I can't remember). There's sometimes a reason that a belt has gone bad other than wear and tear. Install the new belt in reverse, aligning all the pulleys around the belt accordingly. This is perhaps the trickiest part because you work your way to the top from both sides of the engine. The trick is to slip the belt under the tension wheel, while pulling the wrench forward and keeping the belt on the alternator and power steering pulley. Two knowlegeable hands are better than one but If you've done it in the middle of a snowbank in south Boston, it becomes second nature. Eyeball the final product and be sure the pulley rests in the middle of each pulley past the edge. This is especially cumbersome on the fly wheel on the bottom of the engine. If it's resting off the lip, you must loosen the pulley and reach down to push it onto the pulley, so it doesn't wear out the belt prematurely. Once again two hands, one under the wheel well on the bottom ofthe engine, and one lossening the belt slightly, are better than one. One little trick for the future. Should your AC ever go on you and the pulley seizes, you can get out of a financial jam by buying a smaller belt and winding around past the AC pulley. Some Auto Stores specify your belt without the AC. Otherwize you wind an old cut belt past the AC, under the tension wheel while you raise it to where it usually sits, and cut off the excess belt. Take it to the auto parts store and have them match it up. Rock and roll.