Help....Good God...what a pain in the a$$.... Do I have to take out my coolers and fan to replace this thing? What a puzzle they made this into.

Sorry, is there a way to change this thing in a manner that would be quick, and allow to change it on the road if it broke?

 

pulling up on the belt at the Alt works good. There is a tab on the tensionser that will lock it up. Pull on the belt at the Alt then use one hand to push the lock tab in on the tensionser is the easiest way to change a belt on these trucks. It helps if you have two people doing it. If you were to sling a belt just rout it like your supposed to save the Alt for the last pully. Again pulling up on the belt will move the tensionser and you can slip it on the Alt then. One more thing if you are changing the belt once you get the tensioner locked and get the new belt on then pull up on the belt the lock will pop out on it's own. This job is easier said then done, but I have done it and so has a lot of others. Good luck and let me know if you need anymore info

 

On the road fix...... You will need the proper tools and a very cold motor (unless you are wanting to burn yourself) I am on my original belt (95000 miles) and am going to change mine this week.

 

No, you don't have to remove your fan and coolers, but it helps to pop the section of the shroud off over the top of the fan which only takes a flat screwdriver. Just the small curved section not the whole top half. It is possible to fish it through all the pulleys by just locking the tensioner at the alternator as previously mentioned. It took me about an hour, and one of the fastest tech's I know takes 15-30 minutes to do it (he did a cab off head gasket replacement in 6.5 hours).

 

I couldn't get it so I paid a diesel shop. paid 1.8 hrs labor, but it took them about 1.25 hrs. Still worth it....no more squeak.

Thanks for the info.

 

Thanks for all the information on the forum - I had a squealing belt I decided to replace. After lying on the driveway looking up at it for about half an hour I finally figured out how to replace it without pulling off the fan and radiator -- bit slow there but once I saw that only the back of the belt drives the fan, it became more clear. I used the strap wrench method to tighten the belt - it was very tough but moved a little -- I could not get enough movement to get the clip into place so I let go. The whole tensioner just sat there - it was completely seized up, no wonder the belt was squeaking, the adjuster was completely frozen (113,000 miles).
Off to Advance Autoparts and borrowed their serpentine belt kit - I thought I could work the tensioner free with the tool - wrong, even with a big lever it would not move ! Back to AA for a new tensioner assembly, fished the belt around the pulleys and then done. About 4 hours including 3 trips to the Autoparts store.

All I took off was the small plastic shroud at the top. The rest was just hours of keyhole surgery - I think I would pay someone else to do it if I had to do it again.

Cheers,

PB

 

At least it's done..

For anyone else reading: This is another one of those items which should be replaced if the cab is off for studs... The whole front of the motor will be exposed and taken apart anyway..

 

Good information, I am getting ready to replace my belts on the 04, havn't taken the time to look over the process yet guess I've been dreading this job. Do you guys have the dual alt. setup? Or is there a different procedure for them?

 

Is it a wise idea to replace the tensioner if orig (in my case 6+ yrs and 112K) while replacing the belt?

 

Just adding to the belt installation. If you have dual alt.s you will have to take the top of the fan shroud off, 2 small screws phillips head on each side going veritcal, 1 bolt on each side at the top using a 8mm socket, these bolts run horizontal.
You will also have to unhook the wire harness to fan engagement connector or whatever it is, it goes down to the fan hub clutch. The belt for the second alt. has to fed off over the fan one blade at a time.The second alt. tensioner has no lock but is not too difficult to get at with the quarter round shroud mentioned earlier in this post removed and the top of the fan shroud removed.
The main belt is a pain in the neck and would be easier with 3 people, 1 underneath,1 on top, and 1 to ref. Just kidding I think. With the extra pulleys for the second alt. it is a lot harder to see, and get too the main belt. Luckily the belt schematic was still on the radiator cover.Otherwise I would not have never got this off let alone back on.You just can't see where the belt is traveling from any angle on this vehicle.
I think the tensioners are weak so I am leaving the belts looose for the night and going to get new tensioners tommorow.I am hoping with a new one in my hand I will be able to see how it bolts up, and have a idea as to how to remove this thing. It looks like the center bolt at the spring should come out and thats it. But I was not able to budge the tensioner loose, any one have pointers on this issue?

 

The belt tensioner on mine had 2 bolts holding it on - both were 10mm and I moved them about 1 flat at a time. Hopefully the link below will show you the bolt locations.

Good luck

Belt Tensioner Assembly by Dayco - Part 19130022 - Advance Auto Parts

 

Thanks paul bonner, I plan to tackle this again this evening the secondary alt, brg. was dry so I pulled it and had it tested. It is not charging so I will replace it too.I am tempted to pull the radiator to see things better, but I just flushed the radiator and filled it with that expensive gold antifreeze.

 

the best way for me is to just pull the shroud then the fan and stator together. to get the shroud out remove the 8mm bolts from the rad to core support brackets. the pop out the battery harness from behind the radiator. next drain some coolant and remove the hose that goes to the degas then the upper hose from the radiator. next the bolts from the fan shroud that hold it to the radiator. then take the radiator and pull it back it can be held in place by reinstalling the retaing brackets on an angle and using the one bolt hole that will line up. then just lift the shroud stright up. next unplug the fan connector. then remove the 4 15mm bolts that hold the stator in place. loosen the fan clutch and remove the fan and stator as a unit. install in reverse.
after rereading this its much easer done then said

 

Hey guys thanks for all the help, tensioner was definately weak, I could move the old one with a short stubby ratchet. New one I needed a breaker bar to get it in place for the new belt. Also the napa replacement tensioner was 120.00 dollars and does not have the latch to hold the pulley up. Not near as good a deal as the advance auto parts one.Still waiting for the new alt.(secondary alt.)
The dual alt. is deffiantely a tougher set up to work in. My hands and arms are all scraped up from reaching in their. Getting the tensioners in and out was a snap, as long as you are good at feeling your way around. can't see nothing with your arms in there. New alt. will be in tommorow, parts guy forgot to order yesterday. So I will be back in businesstommorow night.
Going to try it out on a trip to Utah this weekend 900 miles one way Gotta see my new grandson born this morning..Thanks again FTE rocks Doug

 

sorry to bring this old post up, but how difficult was it to route the belt?