Serpentine Belts

The belt has an automatic spring tensioner and can not be "tightened".

Yes you can. However you will need to change the washer under the axle nut to the same diameter as the lock washer in order to get the travel needed for proper belt tension

Use a 1/2" socket wrench. From underneath the truck, put the 1/2" drive into the front of the tensioner pulley and rotate the tensioner in a downward direction to loosen the tension.

If you want to remove the serpentine belt, slide the belt off one of the pulleys with your other hand. Be careful not to get your finger caught in between the belt and the pulley if the tensioner moves back up. If you have a second person to help, have them slide the belt off the alternator pulley from the top side.

change belt on 2003 escape

You do not need to remove any mounts, I use an offset wrench and a cheater bar for leverage. If you buy a Chilton's service manual. (about 12-14 dollars)It will show you the way that the belt needs to go. go buy the service manual, and a set of offset head wrenches. (both ends boxed)

Good luck.

If your old belt has not broken, simply go out to your car with paper and pencil and draw a simple diagram of how the belt is routed. If the belt has broken, many cars have diagrams under the hood. You can also go to a good search engine like Google and research it. For example, you search for "99 Crown Victoria serpentine routing". If you do much of your own work, then invest in a Chilton or Haynes manual for your car. They have a great deal of valuable information. Greg

1st get a soft pillow and some lube. (you will need this later)

Drive to your local Jeep dealer. Check the Jeep in at the service department. Bend over grab your ankles. Make sure the dealer uses the lube. At this point the Jeep Dealer will remove your cash and give you a good tush push. Seriously he will beat your butthole bad. We are talking full thrusting motions.

Now when the work on your Jeep is finished. Of course the dealer has found 124 other problems with your Jeep and the total for those repairs will be about $24,881.

Make an appointment for follow up service and then sit on the soft pillow on your ride home. (I told you that you would need that pillow)

Thanks...

Some Wrangler 4.0 Point may have an idler pulley with a cam action to let the tension off of the belt for removal/replacement. My Jeep does not have one and the way I replace the belt is to loosen the top bolt on the alternator and remove the bottom bolt completely. This allows sufficient slack to remove/replace the belt. You will need a long pry bar to re-tension the belt and replace the lower bolt. Good luck. Save your pillow and lube - you may have to go to the dealer...

Loosen the belt tensioner and take the old belt off. Put the new one on and let the tensioner back in position. If you don't have a tensioner, you'll have to loosen the alternator and ac compressor adjusting bolts.

you have to buy a special wrench, buy a new belt, stick wrench under hood to a nut that will loosen the old belt, take old belt off, pull on wrench again, feed belt back onto pulleys (draw a diagram first so you know how to reinstall it), remove wrench, done!

You do NOT need a special wrench (at least for '03-06). You do need a 17mm wrench or socket to release the tension of the tensioner pulley so you can slip off/on the belt.

Loosen the alternator tensioner bolt. You will be able to slide the alternator either way to adjust the tension on the belt.

If you are wanting to stop the A/C from working, then just pull the fuse or disconnect the power to the compressor clutch.

take the slack by using a half inch rachet on the tension pully,remove the part of the belt from the a/c compressor use a peice of string or tape and mark the slack auto will give you a belt that will be close to what u need . It worked for me

You have to go on the compressor! My husband has a 95 and the auto parts manager told him you have to.

I had this on a 90 3800 engine and used a bypass pully from auto zone for $40 bucks same size as the compresser pully but you have otpull the compresser out first and install it in the same three mounting holes using the same three bolts.

Last time I did mine, I pressed hard on the longest run of belt. That moved the tensioner to which I reached down and applied pressure with my other hand to keep it from returning. I then popped the loose belt off the alternator pulley. Took about 30 seconds.

If you know the serpentine belt is bad and you are going to replace it, just cut it with tin snips. I figure that will take about 10 seconds.

To put it back on, you'll need to move that tensioner by putting a wrench or pry bar on it. There should be a socket cut into your tensioner that will accept a 1/2" ratchet or breaker bar.

Most cars and trucks today have what is called a serpentine belt which runs most accessories.They are very dependable and usually easy to replace. To decide if your belt needs replacing, simply look at the grooved side of the belt to see if it is cracking badly. A couple of cracks every 3 inches is normal, but if you see cracks every 1-2 inches I would recommend that you replace it. On most cars and trucks the procedure is basically the same. First off, get the correct belt by bringing your cars VIN number to the parts store(located on your cars dashboard) the parts store may need it. If there are two choices, get them both so you can complete the repair. Once you have the correct belt, take a minute to review how the belt runs across the pulleys and also check to see if your car/ truck has a underhood diagram of belt routing in case you need it. In most cases you will need a socket wrench or breaker bar with either a 3/8" and /or 1/2" head on it and possibly a short extension. Some models may require a wrench of these similar sizes.Now that you are ready to go to work, you will need to find the spring loaded tensioner which is generally located near the top of the belt path; it usually has a shinny pulley on it. Look at the tensioner and insert the tool into it and apply opposing pressure to release the belt.Now, simply install the new belt making sure it fits into the grooves on all the pulleys. Start the car to check it and you are done and you saved yourelf some money!

find the tensioner pulley ( I think it is the one second from top towards rear of motor). take your 3/8" drive ratchet attach to pulley lift up and remove belt. diagram of belt order should be on the fan guard.

The diagram is on page 6-61 of the owner's manual. Please note that it does not tell you that a motor mount must be disconnected to install a new belt.

Many things can cause a serpentine belt to come off. Most likely, it slipped off, or the tensonier that holds it in place was not tight enough.

The serpentine belt is the belt you see that rotates around your alternator and power steering pump and a/c etc. If this belt breaks you will just lose the accessories it runs The timing belt is under a cover at the front of your engine. It is connected to pulleys on the crankshaft and the camshaft and as it rotates it keeps the valves opening and closing at the right time. If this belt breaks, and if the engine you have is called an "interference" engine, the valves will come down and hit the pistons at the wrong time possibly punching holes in the top of the pistons and bending valve stems. serp belt runs alt power sreer and ac timing belt is internal and runs cam in time with crankshaft ( lets car run)

anywhere from $23-$60 at Advance Auto Parts.

Here's an answer from the Pontiac Sunfire group. The cars are basically the same as your Cav. Be aware that your procedures may vary from those used on the Sunfire.

Ah yes, the old serpentine belt raises her ugly head again. These belts are among the most talked about things in this group. We don't mind having at it again for you though.

Because you're asking about belt routing, I'm guessing that maybe your belt has failed already. If it hasn't, DON'T TAKE IT OFF .....yet! Raise the hood of the car and look on the bottom side of the hood for a belt routing diagram. With any luck it's still there. Or, you may find it on the fender well or nearby. If there's no diagram and the belt is still on the car, grab a pen and paper and make your own diagram. You'll need it.

Now, if the belt is gone, you're a little hosed. I've GOOGLE'D my "you know what" off trying to find belt routing diagrams for our Sunfires. I've had little luck. The best bet in this case is to go to a GM dealership to see if they can provide you with the diagram. They'll want to know if the car has AC or not. I guess all Sunfires have power steering, so that shouldn't enter into the equation. Presuming you've come up with a diagram, you're ready to change or replace the belt. The easiest way to get an old one off is with a knife, or some other instrument of destruction. You'll probably have to take the alternator loose to gain a bit of slack in the belt. When I replaced my alternator, it helped to have it loose while I got the belt back on.
In addition to the alternator adjustment, there is a spring loaded tensioner in the belt path. It looks a little different than all the other pulleys, in that the surface is very shiny as it contacts the BACK side of the belt. It's basically just a wheel that rotates with the belt.
The tensioner has a squared off portion on the front surface. This is where you put a wrench or socket or whatever you can make fit on it. Then you rotate it, generally forward, to gain slack, then let it rotate back to take up that slack.

I've found that it helps to have a friend with you when you do this job. The belt is unwieldy and 4 hands work so much better than two at getting and holding it in place. Once it's on, don't forget to adjust and tighten up your alternator if you've taken it loose. If all is well, the belt should be pretty tight. Eyeball everything to make sure it looks right, then start the car. Observe the belt for a minute or two just to ensure that you have it all working correctly and that you don't throw the belt. NOTE: if your car's AC is dead, you can use the belt for the cars without AC and just bypass the compressor. Understand though, that this will involve a slightly different belt routing.

SAVE AND PROTECT your diagram!


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