Serpentine Belt Replacement

Belt Removal
Before taking off the belt, check your service manual for any helpful tips that apply to your specific vehicle. One caution: as belt tensioners are sprung very tightly (some tighter than others), any "slips" involving the wrench used to loosen belt tension can cause serious personal injury, as well as damage to the surrounding area under the hood.


Before taking off the belt, check your service manual for any helpful tips that apply to your specific vehicle. One caution: as belt tensioners are sprung very tightly (some tighter than others), any "slips" involving the wrench used to loosen belt tension can cause serious personal injury, as well as damage to the surrounding area under the hood.


Ideally you should use the special service tool designed for belt-tension removal (via the tensioner). Be aware of where the tool will be positioned when tension is removed and make sure the tensioner is resting on its internal "stop." Obviously, if the tool contacts another component before the tensioner stop is contacted, tension is not completely released and the tool will "jam" if left to rest in that position. The possibility of the tool slipping off of the tensioner is high, and injury will likely result.


Once tension is properly released, it's time to remove the belt. Start removal from the most easily accessed and largest pulley having the least amount of belt contact, if possible (sometimes this is the tensioner, sometimes not). Usually, it's just a matter of pulling the belt clear of the other pulleys and right out of the engine bay. However, sometimes engine mounts or other components such as splash shields first need to be removed. Once the belt is out, here are a few other components to inspect:


> Coolant pump for leakage (will cause belt noise if coolant gets on belt) or bad bearing