how to replace belt....

[cavaliers60]

Needing some help on replacing the belt to the engine.... I'm feeling pretty noobish, and can't find a how-to on this... But do I need to remove the engine mount that's right under the cruise control box? Seems that's the only way to get a new belt on.... So a little help would be awesome! :)

[heineck]

which engine? go and rent a tensioner tool.

[jawa]

yea you have to remove the mount, its stupid i know

[heineck]

3400?

[cavaliers60]

yes, 3400. Sorry. lol

[jhubbz]

just cut it and glue it back together. no removal of engine mount!

[TdotAlero]

just cut it and glue it back together. no removal of engine mount!
:blink: :lol:

[cavaliers60]

You should have seen it earlier.... I was 99% sure I had to take that off... We cut the rest of the old belt off since it decided to shred up again... That's two belts in 3 months since my power steering issue this year... Anyways, this O'Reilly Auto employee comes out and said that we didn't need to remove that bracket to get it in.... He spent a good 20 minutes of our time trying to get it on and couldn't.... Was NOT following the diagram.... I tried telling him how it goes and he was all like, "I've put on hundreds of belts, and I never had to take an engine bracket off." Guy was a douche x10. :lol:

[01OldsAleroGt]

lol well if there was a honda in the parking lot... it was his

[sleepyalero]

yeah its a real pain in the a** on how us 3400 owners have to change our belt.

i mean... its not hard.. just annoying.

[Redog]

Remove Cruise contorl box (gives you more room)
jack up engine, put a block of wood between the jack head and oil pan Jack up until the car slightly raises
put a thick screwdriver in the extra hole in the mount plates.
remove 4 bolts on the plate (15mm I think)
slide belt in
Once belt is in, put everything back together
put belt on eveything EXCEPT idler pulley
open tensinor by pushing it back (3/8 drive head in hole in bottom of tensinor, if tensinor needs to be replaced, it's a 15mm bolt holding it on block)
Slide belt under idler pulley and release tensinor
Check belt by pushing on the parts futherest bewteen pulleys
start engine:awesome:

[cavaliers60]

Thanks man.

I figured it was a fairly simple job... Just wanted to make sure I do it right though. :) It's MY first time actually changing the belt...

[Redog]

Takes me about 20 minutes, taking my time to do it.

Be sure to do that screwdriver trick. I changed a belt once and my engine shifted during the process. I had my ex wife out there with me threading the bolts while I pulled the engine forward. All she did was complain that she shouldn't be threading bolts after giving birth 2 weeks prior, while I'm manually pulling a 300 lbs engine forward :rolleyes2:

The engine shifted because I used a trolley floor jack to hold the engine and it rolled a bit

[cavaliers60]

Well we took the bolts off without having something under there first... So the engine shifted a bit now... Wish we would have waited before doing anything.... But I was an hour away from home with limited tools... Getting it fixed today... We'll see how it goes...

[cavaliers60]

Got the belt on and drove it home. No problems, but when we got home, I looked at the belt and it's already looking worn out... Looked at everything and noticed the belt is not sitting on the harmonic balancer pulley. It's half on and half off in the back of the pulley. Could the pulley be bad, or is this a major problem happening?

Also, when I have the engine running, you can see the pulley move in and out a little...

[heineck]

sounds loose, does it squeek?

[cavaliers60]

doesn't squeak or anything... To be honest, I really don't HEAR anything wrong with it, but then again, I'm not an expert. I could take a quick video of what it's doing...

[cavaliers60]

Here's pics of what it looks like... Will get a video up if you want one.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c26/cavaliers60/May%20Car/IMG_1359.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c26/cavaliers60/May%20Car/IMG_1360.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c26/cavaliers60/May%20Car/IMG_1363.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c26/cavaliers60/May%20Car/IMG_1361.jpg


Maybe someone else with a 3400 could check out their pulleys down there and compare... But I'm pretty sure the one with the belt problem needs to be pushed back some so the belt goes straight across to the compressor pulley rather than what it's doing now.

[cavaliers60]

old belt that got torn up:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c26/cavaliers60/May%20Car/IMG_1356.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c26/cavaliers60/May%20Car/IMG_1353.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c26/cavaliers60/May%20Car/IMG_1351.jpg

[Redog]

You have a bad pulley in there somewhere. That shouldn't happen

[cavaliers60]

Especially three times so far this year. :lol: It's one of two pulleys... It's either the power steering pump, or the harmonic balancer. I'm betting it's the Harmonic balancer since the belt can't sit in the spot properly.

[[ion] C2]

Also, when I have the engine running, you can see the pulley move in and out a little...

right there tells you which pulley the issue is at.

[cavaliers60]

yeah. Thing is, the power steering one does it too... Just not as bad as the other one. lol So I'm sure I'll be replacing the power steering pump too.

[cavaliers60]

Here's a short video of what it's doing... Kinda show what it looks like, then I start it up... Sorry if I sound kinda off or whatever... It's been a long couple days...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hojb-9CEu_I

[Cliff8928]

Easy, just replace the balancer. It separated at the rubber.

[Redog]

Well we took the bolts off without having something under there first...

:eek: :panic: :wacko: :wtf2: :blink: :thumbsdown: :huh: :nuts: :No:
Wait, you took the motor mount off BEFORE putting a block of wood or a jack under the oil pan?
:emotlol:

[cavaliers60]

:eek: :panic: :wacko: :wtf2: :blink: :thumbsdown: :huh: :nuts: :No:
Wait, you took the motor mount off BEFORE putting a block of wood or a jack under the oil pan?
:emotlol:

lol yeah... but we still got the jack under the car just fine with a block of wood.. Got the engine jacked back into place and got the belt replaced. Just got more work to do so it doesn't shred anymore belts.

[cavaliers60]

Easy, just replace the balancer. It separated at the rubber.

Yeah, that's what my wife's cousin said. He's an instructor at the college here in town for the auto department. So we are replacing all of it. Just so there's no more issues. Car should run like a champ now! :lol:

[cavaliers60]

Balancer got replaced. Took a few days with scheduling issues between me and my wife's cousin. Car runs great now! Car had a little bit of a rough idle before, but it's smooth now. Start up and shut down is also really smooth now. I'm happy with the end result.

[lonnie]

Glad you got that squared away.

[zzyzzx]

which engine? go and rent a tensioner tool.

I recommend buying the Lisle ratcheting serpentine belt tool. I've used it many times for other things since it's essentially a close quarters long arm ratchet.

http://www.aleromod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30763&page=2&highlight=Lisle