How to put a serpentine pulley back on

Hi Tyrone - those belts aren't going to tighten. They have what is called a tensioner - a pulley - that will flex back and forth so that you can put the belt on and off without tension being on it. You'll move the tensioner, pressure is relieved - you can remove the belt. When you release - it will go back to the extended position. When you put the belt back on - you'll move that pulley again, get the belt in place and slowly release the pulley so that it puts tension back on the belt.

What are the symptoms exactly - is the belt squealing or do you see or feel extreme vibration while the car is running? I'm not sure if I have the tech info on the 2003 Camry - but if that's a serpentine belt there may be other issues. There may be an adjustment on one of the other pulleys - I'll look now. If you can reply with exact symptoms I may be able to help you out. That 19mm bolt you mentioned may be the tensioner pulley bolt. Some have bolts - some have a hole where the tip of a ratchet (3/8" - 1/2") would go - that's how you get the pulley to move.

All The Best, Justin M
17 South Industries, LLC

Here's a link to a quick how to off of Advance A's website:
Serpentine belt replacement

take it back off and check the routing for the belt
grooves in belt to grooves in pulleys and flat back on flat pulley surfaces

If you have let off the adjuster idler pulley then the reason the belt will not fit is the way you are trying to put it on. You will need a diagram but generally the belt goes over flat pulleys on the back of the belt and around pulleys with teeth. It will be the way you are pitting it on

Application:
With A/C

Kia_Sedona_2002-2006
Accessory Drive Belts

• ACCESSORY BELT ROUTING
• INSPECTION
• REMOVAL & INSTALLATION

Print

Accessory Belt Routing

Fig. Accessory serpentine belt routing-3.5L engine

Fig. Accessory serpentine belt routing-3.5L engine

Fig. Accessory serpentine belt (A) routing-3.8L engine

Inspection

Inspect the drive belt for signs of glazing or cracking. A glazed belt will be perfectly smooth from slippage, while a good belt will have a slight texture of fabric visible. Cracks will usually start at the inner edge of the belt and run outward. All worn or damaged drive belts should be replaced immediately.

Removal & Installation

1. Disconnect the negative battery cable.
2. Rotate the auto tensioner clockwise to release tension, then remove the drive belt.

To install:

1. Install drive belt (A). Route the belt over the components in the following order: Crankshaft pulley - A/C pulley - idler pulley - generator pulley - water pump pulley - P/S pump pulley - tensioner pulley.
2. Rotate auto tensioner arm in the counter-clockwise moving auto tensioner pulley bolt with wrench.
3. After putting belt on auto tensioner pulley, release the auto tensioner pulley slowly.
   
   

   Fig. Accessory serpentine belt routing-3.5L engine
   
   
   

   Fig. Accessory serpentine belt (A) routing-3.8L engine
   

there is a little stick man illustration sticker under the hood showing how to release belt tension by moving the tensioner arm. if the serpentine belt is still on the lower pulley then put the belt on everything except the tensioner, then move the tensioner arm as needed, put the belt in there and release the tensioner arm. most likely going to need two people to do this.

if the belt has come off the lower pulley then you are going to have to remove the service panel behind the right front wheel and put the belt back on lower pulley, then do as above described. this would be a great time to put a new tensioner, a new serpentine belt, and a new "dog bone" motor mount on as it will all be right there to work on with that service panel out.

You don't need that. All you have to do is use the 'under over' method.
You see, the pulleys are designed to ride on the 2 different sides of the serpentine belt.

Simply put the flat ungrooved side against the flat pulleys, and put the grooved side on the grooved side of the next pulley, until you've done all but one, the idler or tensioner pulley.

Use a breaker bar to move the tensioner pulley in a way that the serpentine belt can be slipped on.

And that's it.

Try putting the belt on the alternator then slide it under the idler pulley last.

I am not familar with your particular vehicle so what I provide is general guidance. I am addressing this for a serpentine belt (not to be confused with a timing belt). If you removed any of the pulleys in replacing the belt check and make sure you put the pulley on correctly. It is not that difficult to reverse a pulley when putting it on. If you losened a pulley or tensioner then go back to those pulleys and make sure the pulley is lying flat against its mount. Take a look at which pulley is out of allignment compared to the others. The one pulley that is out of allignment is where your problem is. If you did not remove or losen any pulleys (only losened a tensioner) in pulling the belt just go ahead and put the belt back on and see what happens. If it was a timing belt you were talking about you would never just try putting it on as poping a serpentine belt is not a big deal but pop a timing belt can ruing your engine.

Don't have a chart, video, or diagram available at the moment. Can offer you generic advice.

1.Somewhere in the middle of that serpentine belt, that is wrapped around all those pulleys, is an Idler tensioner Pulley. All this pulley does, is put tension on that serpentine belt. Usually located somewhere in the middle.

The Idler tensioner Pulley will be on a bracket. It will be on the end of the bracket. The bracket usually has a 1/2 inch square hole in it. This is used for a tool, that resembles a 1/2 inch breaker bar.
-> I, use a 1/2 inch breaker bar.
The 1/2 inch breaker bar is inserted into this square hole, and the bracket is pulled to one side.
This pulls the tensioner pulley away from the serpentine belt, allowing the belt to have slack, and then the belt is slipped off of one of those pulleys. Release the pressure slowly, remove the tool. Then the serpentine belt is removed all the way.

(The Idler tensioner pulley bracket, can only be moved in one direction, to take pressure off of the serpentine belt. The direction opposite, of it putting pressure on the serpentine belt.

The spring used to put pressure is Very strong. This is also an area, where you can easily slip, cutting your knuckles, or fingers, or hand, on sharp objects. Use caution, you may want to wear a glove, or gloves!)

Then the new serpentine belt is wound around the pulleys in the correct pattern, the Idler Tensioner Pulley is once again pulled to the side, and the last of the serpentine belt is slid into place. Then you slowly release the tensioner pulley, and it puts pressure on the serpentine belt once more.

Make sure the serpentine belt is in the grooves of the pulleys, and is wound around in the correct pattern.

On the car hood inside, or on the radiator support, or perhaps on the inner fender well, or in the Owners Manual, it should show the correct pattern for installing the serpentine belt.