I need to replace a serpentine belt but i cant seem to get the new belt back on. Is there a tension pulley i dshould know of. the top pulley with no thread comes right off but does not slide to give me room to put the belt on.

Im stuck and need some help. Gotta get to work! Thanks

 

How did you get your old belt off? On the top left side of the motor near your thermostat is the tensioner pulley. put a socket on the center nut and the whole works will move to release the tension on the belt. Remove old belt, install new belt, look for decal near radiator front that shows belt direction. When you have the belt on, use socket on tensioner to pull it back far enough to slip the new belt over the pulley-----there you have it.

 

yeah just like pony said, there is a tensioner that you can get a ratchet on I think below the altinator (on the 4 banger) I had to use a short pipe on the end of the ratchet for leverage. having a helping hand from a buddy is always nice. Also man I would have to recomend you go to your local parts store to buy a heynes manual for your model truck. They have a lot of info from simple to complex.

 

Welcome to FTE!!!

 

bonesanna,
Welcome to FTE. That same issue is what brought me to FTE more than a year ago. You will find no better site for Ford information anywhere. I have never failed to find the information I wanted from the extremely knowledgable members of this site.

And like Pony said, the tensioner pulley has a socket that allows you to move the entire pulley to release tension. Only takes about 10 minutes to change. Good luck!

 

Better yet: go to your local Autozone, buy new serpentine belt and then "rent" their serpentine belt tool. You put down a deposit and do the job in the parking lot. The tool kit consists of a very thin long handled rod along with several thin sockets. Select the socket that fits your tensioner pulley. By the handle and socket being very thin they fit inside the narrow space nicely. When you install your new belt just follow the diagram inside the hood as others have said. TIP: If you notice all the pulleys will have grooves and one that is smooth. DO THE SMOOTH ONE LAST. It is purposely made this way so it can slip right on. Another reason for the Autozone parking lot: ready help. People pulling up and leaving. If a helping hand is needed usually all that is required is a "hey buddy have you ever done this?" You also have the counter guys there also and if difficulty is encountered an offer to buy their lunch ($5) will surely cinch the job.

 

Ahhhhhhh...I didn't realize they had a special tool for that!! That will make it sooo much easier when i do it comming up in the next couple months. I remember last time it took an extra set of hands, a few scraped knuckles and a lot of cussin to get that thing back on. Turns out there was slack inbetween the bottom two pulleys and that caused there to not be enough slack at the top to get it over the tensioner pully. Man, we thougth they gave us the wrong belt or something. It was sooooo close to going over the pulley for about 20 minutes.....We were about to give up before we noticed the obvious. lol Just so you know.....