jimbosr1

does the drive belt on our cars have a self tensioner?i am going to change it some time this month.doesnt look bad but going on 72k miles on it.

caddyowner

Are you referring to the serpentine belt or timing belt?

jimbosr1

serpentine belt,ive always called them the drive belts.

jimbosr1

i found out how to replace it.easy as pie.

AussieAuto

Just remember it's a LEFT hand thread on the tensioner bolt, (undoes backwards)...

Marklouis

gonna tear into mine this week too - something has developed an annoying squeal. might as well replaced the belts while I am in there

masterff

were did you find out how to replace it?

mine needs doing and I don't want to get some grease monkey to do it if I can.


mine is starting to squeak and im sure it's causing my battery to drain within a week of not driving the car.

Marklouis

I have yet to narrow down the source of the squeal I am hearing - but I will not tear into it until Friday when I am off work. Driving the Accord right now.

94LSon20

Did mine this week. Ordered the belt from Sewell...lk $25 shipped. You can do it yourself, open the hood and the layout is right behind the grill. Probably one of the easiest DIY's there is. My car idles smoother (and higher) was at 400rpm, now about 900.

As for the squeaking, I had a similar issue and it was the alternator.

Marklouis

Great. I just tore mine down and found out it is the alternator squealing terribly.
The belt and tensioners are fine and within spec. Did you have to replace your alternator?
I went ahead and pulled the alt out so I can get it tested. Hope I don't have to shell out $250+ for a new one, but it's looking that way.

94LSon20

Go to Advanced and shell out $130 for a rebuilt one. Mine works great so far. Your alternator might test good but the bearing on the wheel might be shot.

BTW, your gonna need to put the car on a lift, its located at the bottom of the engine.

Marklouis

I did tear into it on Friday night and you are correct. the Rear Bearing of the Altenator is what's failing - mine is at 75K miles. but I went ahead and replaced the Drive Belt to see what that would do and it still squealed like a banshee, so here is some pics that I took of the work I did.

the front (sealed) bearing was in great shape as also was the alt bushings and main shaft. the rear (failed seal) bearing proved somewhat worn but impossible to remove - but instead of replacing the unit for now i wanted to see if I could make it last a while longer. I used a can of white lithium grease with a straw nozzle and sprayed at the rear base of the bearing while free spinning. after 2 applications of the lithium grease spray it proved to spin more firm and with more revolutions. so I cleaned the leftover grease with MAF cleaner and cleaned the rest of the unit with a high pressure air nozzle. put it all back together close to the original torque specs. I free spinned the main shaft and continued to tighten 1/4 turn on the 4 main casing bolts until I was satisfied with the results.

I put everything back together and cranked it up (after I prayed over my car) and the issue of the squealing is gone albeit the rear bearing will still continue to breakdown but hopefully this will slow the proccess down. I have driven the car everyday since and so far all is well. but as soon as it gives me issues I will be sure and post when and the mileage.