Replacing serpentine belt

[1955moose]

Well today was a second warm day here in the land of outrageous
rents and mortgages, Yep San Francisco. Went over to my old buds house to change out my serpentine belt. Didn't really have to, but what the hell had new one for over three years now, and occasionally squealing. Man what a p.I.t.a! I've worked on god knows how many cars/trucks in my 45 plus years of wrenching, but this one ranks Right at the top! My buddy is a retired Ford mechanic, and he along with me struggled. Had to remove skid pan underneath, four wheel drive you know, on top of swinging air filter tube out of way. My arms are scraped up. Oh yes had my 300 lb step to step onto, How fun! My friend Carl and I said, isn't it nice we don't do this everyday anymore! Anyway put on a Goodyear Gator back belt, one of my aftermarket favorites, had a new tensioner standing by, but get to return it, hope everyone had a great Saturday!

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[Vancouver Bob]

I was just flying thru the airport today... looked like an awesome day outside... clear, sunny skies.

Glad to hear you got it done with only a few scraped body parts. Good job! I did mine twice. Once without removing much of anything and I had a hard time with my socket in the tensioner. Ended up tearing it up a bit but not enough to no longer work. Last year I replaced it all again when I did the water pump, replaced all pulleys and the tensioner while I was at it. I was surprised to see the water pump in good shape after 200K miles.

 

[Big Brian]

I did mine too yesterday, After taking the air snorkel off it wasn't that bad. When I work on an engine I look at what is in the way first and if it can be removed without much hassle I just remove it instead of fighting with it. Saves a lot of time and aggravation in the long run

The problem I had was it kept slipping off the a/c pulley right when I went to finish it.

I ended up putting a piece of duct tape on it and that held it in place on the ac pulley long enough to be able to get the all in place. If I had someone to help me they could have just held it there but I was by myself

But it was ******* me off for a while!!

 

[Adieu]

Yup this kinda shit often calls for duct tape or zip ties... preferably zip ties, they leave no residue

 

[Big Brian]

Yup this kinda shit often calls for duct tape or zip ties... preferably zip ties, they leave no residue

yeah but its impossible to zip tie the belt to the ac clutch you can barely get your hands on it the way it is

take my word for it the duct tape works fine there is no residue as its just on there to hold the belt on the bottom of the pulley for a few minutes

 

[1997SCEBFEX]

I put a gatorback on the supercharger drive belt the last time I changed it. the prescribed kind glaze too fast even at the right tension.

 

[1955moose]

I've used gaterbacks on all my 5.0 mustangs, had three, and both my Lincoln's. All used the good year belt, never had an issue. Time will tell! Glad my tensioner was in good shape, had the new one just in case. Good tip on the duct tape, if their was any sticky left over, a little goo gone or equivalent should do the trick. If you've got a buddy handy that works best. Just a good excuse to split a 12 pack afterwards! Had to use a cheater pipe on my 1/2 inch drive ratchet, my long breaker bar wouldn't line up with square. Ironically we had the actual idler pulley tool with crows feet. The ratchet actually is the easiest. Didn't like the fact the 1/2 inch hex of ratchet only pushes halfway into the tensioner.

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[Big Brian]

I used a breaker bar, always have a piece of conduit at the ready to slip over the end for a cheater bar.

I use a pry bar to seat the drive of the breaker bar into the tensioner, then it stays put. I also use it to pop it back out

All my pulleys were just fine so that was good.

Did more maintenance today, transfer case fluid and checked the auto trans fluid condition.

Also detailed the interior and updated my android head unit

Good weekend for it with the ice storm we have, I have a heated garage with a epoxy floor and beer fridge and TV so I am all set lol

 

[ExplorerTom]

Back during my recent radiator struggles, I had to remove the belt off most of the pullies AND remove the fan/shroud. Didn't seem too terrible. Hardest part for me was removing the fan without the proper tool to hold the pulley.

Which part were you struggling with specifically?

 

[1955moose]

Getting the belt routed through. At first I was trying to do it myself, but when i pulled my partner to help, I ran the bottom, he did the top. Just always amazes me how Ford packs everything so tight on expeditions. I've owned 5 Fords over the past 30 years, things were a little tough, but these guys are in another league. Part of it too is my age now, and don't enjoy wrenching like I used to!

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[Big Brian]

I agree with your last sentence I did this for a living for 20 years that is enough lol

But now I can not bring myself to let anyone else work on my vehicles

 

[1955moose]

I know what you mean. Most shops screwed up bad enough years back when vehicles were easy to work on, these days it doesn't take much to make an easy part replace into a nightmare, by a so called mechanic clumsily working on your vehicle. Even Dealer mechanics struggle these days. No god willing I'm going to keep wrenching, at least most things. Got to do something with all those wrenches/ sockets than just polish them!

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[Trainmaster]

You reminded me of yet one more job I don't look forward to doing again one day.

Had a belt break on the side of the road on a Focus, on a five degree day in Jones Beach. The bolt holding the seized pulley was just an inch too long to pull without jacking out the engine. Then try that belt alone!

Ford's the best!

 

[1955moose]

Now you know why they recommend replacing belts/hoses every 4 years, cars never break on a clear 65 degree day in front of your house, or a repair shop! It's always cold, hot, or just the wrong time!

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[rjdelp7]

I changed mine in about 15min. I used a loaner belt tool, from the auto parts store. It is long and thin. It makes the job, much easier. I watch a video on youtube. It showed sliding belt between, idler and tensioner. then around AC pulley first. Next, the remaining pulleys and alternator last.

 

[knewblewkorvett]

I've had multiple alternator problems with my 2000 Expedition. It was a PITA doing it by myself as it's hard to route the new belt while holding the breaker bar.

 

[Big Brian]

I changed mine in about 15min. I used a loaner belt tool, from the auto parts store. It is long and thin. It makes the job, much easier. I watch a video on youtube. It showed sliding belt between, idler and tensioner. then around AC pulley first. Next, the remaining pulleys and alternator last.

I watched the same video the problem I had was the stupid belt kept falling off the ac pulley

I think what happened to me was that the shape of the belt from being folded in the package was causing a lot of slack right at the pulley. After sliding the belt around some I found that it would hold its shape and stay in place. I just tried the duct tape because I was getting pissed at it. I didnt have any problem with using a breaker bar on the tensioner.

Probably just dumb luck I just happened to have that spot in the belt at the wrong spot on the pulley at first

 

[1955moose]

Didn't even know they made a tool to assist. I bought the tensioner at Oreillys, had I known I would have grabbed it. I've changed so many other cars, and they went on without a hitch. My buddy that was a previous Ford mechanic said they used to hang them up for awhile to stretch out. Mines been in its box over 3 years, I still like the duct tape idea.

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[Gumbyalso]

You guys have me laughing with the squealing (pun intended) over serpentine belts. I have a 2000 and 2011 Expedition, two 2005 Explorers, and a 2008 F-150. I've changed the serpentine belts on all of them at least once, plus removals or tension release to facilitate other maintenance like alternator replacements. But I'd rather change any serpentine than have to change the three v-belts belts we used to deal with before they came up with serpentine. I don't doubt that everyone in this thread has had to use a crowbar to get the tension just right on the alternator, a/c, and power steering/water pump belts on some old truck they used to have. (Tell me that I'm not the only one that old.) And it was always the belt furthest back that had to be changed so you had to take off all three. Ever had one break and take out the other two? I have. Ever dropped a rag into a running engine after installing three new belts and destroy all three in an instant? Done that too. And I only change serpentine belts every 100,000 miles compared to the 50,000 or less you could get from a v-belt. Give me the worst serpentine belt any day over v-belts.

 

[Habbibie]

Haha Gumbyalso you're so right a single belt over 3 fan belts anyday for me too lol.

Moose next time you know about the tool pictured below Haha because when u created this thread I was curious why youre having such a nightmare its takes all but 10 minutes at the most to change a belt on my 5.4.... now I know