Serpentine Belt

[BeaVicross]

I am looking to replace my worn serpentine belt and was just wondering if there are any tricks or concerns that I might need to be aware of? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Neil

[JoFotoz]

Take a look at this thread...

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...erpentine+belt




jo

[circmand]

Take a look at this thread...

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...erpentine+belt




jo

Too bad it is old posts or I would have replied there. I did this myself last night. I bought the belt at Autozone and used their excellent lend a tool program for the tool mentioned. This is an excellent time too differentiate between a job that is easy based on knowhow required and easy based on level of difficulty. The serpentine belt replacement requires like zero know how but it does require patience. The job is not a fix on the side of the road with bare hands as suggested or your tensioner is shot. However due to the placement of the pulleys you can get the tensioner to move just barely enough to get the belt on. If doing by your self it can be frustrating not too mention big forearms can limit your movement. Doing it on a warm motor adds extra fun. But anyone can do it as even the strength needed is minimat with the tool

[blacksambo]

I find a 14mm socket on a15" breaker bar works well to move the tensioner. Just a suggestion.

[circmand]

I find a 14mm socket on a15" breaker bar works well to move the tensioner. Just a suggestion.

it would work if you have one handy. Autozone takes a deposit but refunds all of it and it is the correct tool. I had issues with it hitting the radiator hose just short of enough room to slip on the belt.

[JHarris1385]

This is a project I plan to do this week. How much was the belt? Should you do the water pump as well?

[etlsport]

j,

they are talking about the serpentine belt. you replace the water pump with the timing belt which is inside the engine. the serpentine belt is between the radiator and the engine block, i have removal and replacement down to about 15 min now.

i think my last belt was around 30-40

[circmand]

This is a project I plan to do this week. How much was the belt? Should you do the water pump as well?

The belt was like $30 definately print out the attached link in the 1st post it has great diagrams. It was about 15 minutes and that was my 1st time. The only additional info is to get the spring to loosen you attached the 14mm socket to the pulley then pull it as if you were trying to tighten it. The other way just loosens the bolt on the pulley. And no water pump that as stated is with the timing belt.

[JNUVX]

I don't mean to change the subject but this is the closest thread I could find. Here's the story...
My serpentine belt started to shear off so I had it replaced the next day with no problems. The only changes since then have been that Today I had a shop replace my muffler w/the superturbo from dynomax and add a stainless exhaust tip. When I got back to work I disconnected the battery to reset the computer. When I went to reconnect the battery a buddy of mine noticed that two ridges of the serpentine belt were over the edge of the 'water pump wheel' closest to the engine block. We moved it back into place and started the engine; only to have it jump back on the bay edge of the water pump. We have replicated this process two or three times and taken it for a test drive. During te test drive two ridges sheared off the belt. It's at my mechanics shop and will be examined tomorrow morning...where I will watch them examine the vx. I hope things are ok and the belt was faulty or something of that nature.. Also, my mechanic pulled the diagram for the belt and it was routed correctly.. Any ideas guys?!

[Ldub]

Sounds like a mis-aligned/bent pulley...

[JNUVX]

Ldub to the rescue!! So, I attempted some online research and failed...epically. How do you remedy this problem if it is indeed the culprit? I'm also wondering what would cause this problem..thanx Ldub!

Thank goodness I have the State Farm Smart Car to drive around for the time being...

[Dare2Dream]

I'm on my sixth fan belt which I replaced last July. My first five belts were the stock Isuzu belt, ~$18-25. For my last belt I decided to try the Dayco Poly Rib belt since I was getting spark plugs at Advance Auto.

As the name suggests, it's not molded rubber ribs and grooves like all the others. When new, the grooves are just slight indentations. In just minutes it molds the ribs and grooves to your pulleys. So if anything is bent or out of line, it won't make any noise and allegedly runs quieter and cooler than other belts. The poly material will not crack like rubber belts. It was ~$30.

This is when new in July-


This is now after 19,000 miles-


Both sides of the belt look really good with no cracking. If ya wanna give it a try, Dayco #5060900.

BTW, it's not a bad idea to keep your old one in the VX as a spare.

Mark Griffin

Thanks Mark, looks very nice and the quieter/cooler feature sounds good! A couple of year back, the Gatorback belt was quite popular, is that not the case anymore?

Also, Ldub, the diagram you posted in the initial thread is not showing:

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...erpentine+belt

[Ldub]

Also, Ldub, the diagram you posted in the initial thread is not showing:

Thanx for the heads up...

I done fixeded it....

FWIW, I still find the gatorback belt to be VERY fasionable...

[JNUVX]

So I got the VX back today..i'll try and post a picture of the old fan bracket. The serp belt looks good, and all pulleys are aligned. However, (when I test drove the vx on sunday approx 2mi to see how it was driving after they put the old bracket back on. I noticed strong vibration around 3500 rpms). Now that the bracket has been replaced, vibration is virtually zero while driving. When I am stopped and in gear there is annoying vibration. When I am in park or in in neutral, the vibration is very low frequency and not as noticeable. I searched the forums..and have come up with the maybe the motor mounts need to be replaced? I have also looked at the engine while running, and it seems to be moving a little more than usual...i'm a bit worried and i'm going to keep driving the smartcar until i can get this durn thing resolved 100 percent. Help is very much appreciated..

[JHarris1385]

Completely got confused here, I was not paying attention....I meant the serp. Dont want to mess with anything inside.