How to replace the v grove belt that broke - Intrigue Oldsmobile Cars & Trucks

What's the make and model?

You put a 3/8" ratchet in the tensioner arm. Looking at the side of the engine to the passenger side of the van, the tensioner is at the top of the engine towards the back. Twist the tensioner to allow the old belt to be removed, Install the new belt following the same path. There should be a sticker on the belt guard by the power steering pump. The belt will fit smoothly on all the pulleys. Pay attentions as some pulleys have the belt groves facing in, some have the belt groves facing out.

IMPORTANT - When you do this, put all the keys for the car in your pocket so no one can try to start it.

what is happening is the belt is not getting full contact with the pulley, you might just have some antifreeze residue from repair and by slowly poring 1/2 a gallon of water on the belt will wash off this residue BUT first look under the car for leaks ! AC off let car run for 10 minutes on driveway mark the tires position with a coin back car up and look for a wet spot, the coin will give you a better idea where the leak may be.. no leak YAAAA .. next step .
pulley groves may have trash in the groves this can be cleaned with a bar of lava soap WARNING this procedure is done with the engine running and is dangerous ! take the bar of vava and touch it to the inside of the belt, this pumice in the soap works well for cleaning the pulley groves. also a ice pick or a small screwdriver can be used in the groves of the pulleys to clean black residue in the bottom of the groves.. remember i I was able to help you thank me
.. jay the pool pump motor repair guy in longwood Fl

6 grove belt with out a/c


6 grove belt with a/c

6 grove belt with a/c

If you are paying someone to do the work. It is cheaper most times to replace the engine. If it were mine I do the work and would fix the engine. Depends on the damage also. You wont know until you get it apart. It can scar up the piston top and be ok. If it scars up the valve seat in the head, the head is trashed. If something broke and scars up the cylinder walls to badly it is trashed

I think this is it

If the pulley doesn't have grooves, it's most likely the tensioner pulley that you adjust to tighten or loosen the belt. Below is a diagram for your car that shows the individual pulleys and the belt routing. As far as how often to replace the belt, every other year works for me unless you put a lot of miles(more than 35,000 a year) on your car then I would advise every year.
Best of luck! Greg
2001 Focus Belt Routing

Picture is for the carbureted model but has the same patter as my fuel injected model. It's actually pretty easy to see how it goes. If the pully has groves then the grove side of the belt will fit right in it prefectly. If it's smooth then the back side of the belt with run along it. To loosen the belt tensioner do two things. first in the picture below you will see in the top middle you will see the tensioner. The back of the belt runs along it. You will notice that it looks like a solid peice. loosen the top slighty with i believe a 15mm. After that connect to the pully attached to it and pull back to the passenger side until you can slid the belt off the alternator. put back on in reverse order. really really simple once you do it. good luck

if you have a serpintine (belt with groves on the side that rides on pullys) if ther are cracks on the groves it needs to replaced if the groovesn are just clogged and dirty take it off and cleane it with soap and water and old toothbrush

I had the same problem with the after market serpentine belt, i replaced it with the OEM and found it not to squeak. Have a closer look at the V groves on the belt and the pulley, I found the V grove on the belt had a different size then the groves on the pulley making them squeal. Good luck and hope this helps.