Serpentine Belt Replacement

[stevens]

Originally Posted by rlent

Probably easier just to pull the belt off and inspect it .... close up like ..... and then stick 'er back on there ..... give ya some practice on changing it, if case ya ever have to do it ....

Me, I'd rather do my practicing some sunny afternoon at home in the driveway ..... as opposed to a bitter cold night on a lonely stretch of road ...... in the middle of a snowstorm

That's exactly what I have to do, ran into a 2 1/2 foot snow drift and knocked the belt off, it's -10C and in the middle of no where, at least the snow has stopped !
Do I need to hold the tension on the bolt or does it stay released, thanks for all the previous posts and write ups, massive help when non available over here.
Steve UK

[sprintguy]

Get this , when you release tension on the belt with the tensioner (underneath is best) there is a small pin hole (just under 1/8 " ) off to the right (facing the engine)of the 17mm 12point or torx recess , on the tensioner , simply slide a sturdy pin in the hole when tensioner is fully disengaged from the belt , then slowly release tensioner back to tesioning position, the pin will lock the tensioner in the realesed position then you can remove your tool and easily replace the belt , then reverse procedure to tension the belt.

Carl

[Brenton]

Word of caution! I was running a new belt but one of my idler pulley's locked up! I didn't hear a thing, but of course lost power steering and the temp guage climbed rapidly. It melted the belt and filled all the grooves with rubber-what a mess. To my surprise NAPA carries all the parts and I also picked up a "tensioner release kit" that proved very handy. They didn't have the parts in stock though and the Sprinter came home behind a tow truck. Another thing I learned was AAA doesn't cover my van. Great Forum thanx.

[surlyoldbill]

Thanks for the write-up, it saved me some time. I actually looked for the "square hole" that the manual says is there, and then remembered your post and re-read it. Took me about a half hour once I figured things out. I have a T-55 as part of a torx set, and it worked. I used a hillbilly ratcheting extension; I secured a 3/8 socket wrench in the end of a piece of 5/8x5/8 square tubing with duct tape. Worked like a charm, as did my tie down secured in the end of the tubing and through a body hole by the washer fluid reservoir, so I could do the whole thing without help holding the tensioner in place. I did more than half of the belt placement from underneath, it was easier to get to.

[treehouselab]

2004 , 140,000 miles

Replaced leaking water pump, belt, 2 idler pulleys, and tensioner pulley. Bought the whole batch from Europarts for about $300.

I took grill, headlights, bumper off. Then disconnected radiator and pump hoses and transmission cooler lines so I could swivel radiator out of way.

Took 2 short days and a lot of cussing. Does anyone reman old water pumps? Seems a shame to toss it out.

[OldWest]

Thanks for all the great tips. Releasing tension from underneath with 17 mm socket was great tip. Can release tension and hold with one hand and do last piece over a/c compressor with other hand--great tip to do a/c compressor last. Very easy to do.

If not sure whether you can do or not, just try releasing tensioner from underneath vehicle. If you can do that with one hand and hold release tension in place, you should be able to do serpentine belt replacement.

Routing the belt is a bit confusing just looking at diagram.

Next time, will loop belt over alternator first (use a "folded" corner of belt), then route top part of loop over idler pulleys and power steering, then make sure bottom part of loop is over water pulley and tensioner--that would be one partial part of loop, then, route remaining part of belt over crankshaft, then a/c compressor last. Only the last part of a/c compressor requires tensioner to be released.

Thanks again to all who posted.

[mendonsy]

If your serpentine belt looks like this .......................
you should probably consider replacing it!!
For the astute, you will notice only four ribs are left. I had to remove the fifth rib from the fan with wire cutters.
Thanks to this thread the total replacement time was 1 hour and I have the auxiliary AC drive belt in front of the serpentine so it has to be removed to make the swap.

[vinyl_addict]

i think the dayco part number listed in the main writeup needs an update. 5060890 is for 2004-2006 sprinters. 2002-2003 need dayco 5060895 according to the website.

[Type2Teach]

Does anyone know if the engine shuts off (to protect itself) when the belt breaks?
I was a quarter mile from home when I heard a "thump thump thump" so I pulled over to see what was up. Turns out the belt is tearing to shreds. It's not gone yet, but I shut the engine off and walked home with the kids. It's raining out and cold and I would MUCH rather be changing the belt in my driveway with the overhanging garage roof to cover me, but if the belt breaks on the way home, I don't want to be stuck in the middle of the street in busy Philadelphia. Nor do I want to do any damage, but I doubt running the engine the last block or two without the power steering or A/C will do damage. Wait, the water pump is connected, too. But still, a block or two won't get the engine too hot.
Anyway, back to my original question- if the serpentine belt breaks, will the engine shut itself off immediately? I assume so, but I really don't know.

[ben a]

it should stay running i think but you will get a lot of pcm codes , and lights on if it breaks keep your eye on the water temp. i would get a tow from a friend that 2.7 is not cheep too much to risk for a belt