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tips and tricks of changing serpentine belt?!


stlunatics2oo3

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i need to change my serpentine belt on my 2.8 w/ a/c on a cutlass supreme and i wanna kno tricks and tips cause it is cold as hell here so let me kno i am doin it on friday so..... tell me

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Guest TurboSedan

VERY easy!!! 1st, take the little belt cover off of the top of the water pump....it is that plastic piece with the belt routing diagram on it. next, use a 3/8" drive ratchet handle and insert it into the belt tensioner. the belt tensioner is below the power steering reservoir in the middle of the engine. pull up on the ratchet handle to relieve the tesion on the belt while you pull the belt out. installation is the opposite. just MAKE sure you route the belt correctly around the water pump etc.!! hth

joshua

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The biggest trick is to use a ratchet. Most people use a wrench to loosed the tensioner, but if you look, there is a square hole that is just the right size for the ratchet. Other than that, there is not trick or tips too it. You just have to take the plastic routing guide cover off (2 nuts and one bolt) then take off the old one, put the new one in, then put the cover back on.

 

Taylor

 

This is a job that I can do in less than 2 minutes.

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well i knew that but i am wonderin any tips or tricks

 

I got one for you, and you will need to know this: use a 3/8 ratchet with the button on the back side used to "release" sockets (usually craftsman)...it essentially pushes that little metal ball inside the ratchet drive so it becomes flush. I along with my dad and uncle were doing some maintenance work to my dad's '96 S10 which included replacing the belt, and it does have the same tensioner as our 2.8/3.1. He didnt have a ratchet or anything with the retractable "ball" and we couldnt get it to snap into the tensioner. End result was some of the aluminum in the hole got shredded from the ratchet slipping off a few times, so my uncle had to use channel-lock pliers to grab it and move it up. What a pain in the ass! Other than that, always make the alternator pulley the LAST to get the belt since it's the smallest...

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