Super Noobie Question!

[ArcherV20]

Hey guys!

Been awhile since I've been able to post here, my cars been in storage for the long long canadian winter Anyway, now that it's coming out I wanted to throw on a new water pump (it's been squeaking) and replace the belts while I'm at it. I know you'll scoff, I've done some work with removing the turbo and manifold and a bit of headwork on my old KA, but to be honest I've never removed belts on my car :S.

Always made me pretty nervous! It sounds like a really simple procedure but I really don't want to mess it up. Is there a simple method to doing this for a first timer? Again sorry for the newbish question - replacing the water pump itself looks to be a pretty easy job but it's me being paranoid about removing belts which is holding me back .

Thanks Nico!

[PyR0NiAk]

There is a tensioner bolt on the alternator that you loosen, which will allow the belts to have slack.. Remove belt, replace belt, and then tighten tensioner bolt again.

[ArcherV20]

Thank you Pyro .

[Hijacker]

To get the best tension, tighten the adjusters until the belt can be deflected just a little. I think most manuals will give a quantitative distance of deflection, but i've always done it by feel. Don't forget that each adjuster bolt has a lock bolt/nut that must be loosened. They're attached to the asjuster bolt.

[ArcherV20]

I found a 15mm bolt on the alternator that appears to be on some sort of guide. It's near the top right of the Alternator if you're looking from above the engine bay. I loosen it and try to move the alternator up and down but it won't budge. Does this sound like I'm attacking the wrong bolt here?

[Hijacker]

Gotta loosen the alternator's pivot bolt as well. The one at the very bottom.

[ArcherV20]

Ahh okay. Thanks hijack, I'll try that tomorrow - looks like it's gonna storm around here.

[CRyan]

LOL, I remember the first time I did this, I had a problem with the P/S one, lol. I think its the most simple, though.

[ArcherV20]

I feel a bit defeated - I was still unable to locate any sign of a pivot bolt anywhere under neath the car. I'll try to describe best what i found.

Once sliding under neath the car, I shot some light up onto the alt to see if there was a .. bracket + side looking mechanism that would be obviously help with keeping tension. To my dismay I found next to nothing. 2 bolts that seem to meet up with the oil pan, and one 15mm bolt in the BACK (facing the rear of the engine). I struggled to loosen it but after 4 or 5 good tugs, I decided I wasn't sure enough that this was the bolt to undo it.

Sorry to keep coming back to this guys I appreciate all the help.

[Second Shadow]

see if this helps.



1: loosen this bolt to allow adjustment.
2: this is the actual adjustment bolt.
3: pivot bolt, probably will also need to loosen this and note; it's really long and travels from the front of the alt all the way to the back. it's basically what's really holding it on there.

[PyR0NiAk]

Good post shadow.

[ArcherV20]

Perfect! Thank you so much.

[ArcherV20]

Good lord! That bottom one (3) is really on there! It's located at the back of the alt. and I'm just cranking on this thing and it won't budge. I'll keep at it though. I don't have the best outfitted garage as I try to do as much work at home as possible (but not always possible).

WIll keep you guys updated .

[PyR0NiAk]

Good luck, bud. You'll get it.