Write-Up: Replacing Belts and Pulleys

KnottyEagle wrote:

Ugh, need the S/C idler pulley that's surrounded by the engine mount.

Think of this as a great opportunity!

Earlier in this thread (I believe) are instructions for removing and cutting the spacer for the bottom bolt. In order to get that spacer out, well you will be halfway to having the bracket off! Once you have the bracket off, replace that pulley and put on new belts. Cut the original spacer in half (to make future belt replacements a breeze) and you are done.

Don't worry too much about the tensioner being 'bouncy' - that's it's job, absorbing tension as the engine spins naturally. Remember that the crankshaft does not receive an even amount of rotational force - it's being blasted 3 times for every rotation, so the power source of the belt drive is actually a very uneven amount of power.

I'm thinking about biting the bullet and just having a dealer do the repair and also replace my S/C belt. I've already replaced the S/C belt tensioner pulley and the S/C idler pulley that's not surrounded by the engine mount. That would round all of the S/C stuff out and all I would need after that is an accessory belt and accessory idler pulley. That's just peace of mind stuff that I'd like to do.

I don't really want to risk having to wait until Monday or Tuesday and doing it in my auto shop class because I have to work on the weekends and also commute back and forth to school.

You're going to pay an arm and a leg at the dealership dude. I'm a Tech at a dealer.....
Our labor rate is now $103.50/hr. Labor alone on that repair is going to be around $320 plus parts. Chances are, they won't even have that pulley. Many of the parts for these cars are discontinued from the dealer. I actually had to go to the parts store and match up the pulleys in order to find the one I needed.

That front mount bracket isn't that hard to take off. It's really just some 15mm bolts/nuts with a jack supporting the Powertrain.

Just sayin.....

I had to replace mine outside this last winter when it was really cold and during one of the bad snow storms we had. It took me 4 hours. I think in normal weather like now I could get it done in 2 hours or less. It really isn't difficult to do.

I guess you're right about the dealership. I just kind of want to get it done ASAP. What should I do about finding the actual pulley? I called two dealerships around me and it sounds like none of them have it. Would a normal pulley like the S/C belt tensioner pulley work? They look about the same size from what I can see of the lower idler pulley. What about smooth vs. grooved or metal vs. plastic? Or does it not really matter for this pulley?

I guess It'd have to be smooth because the smooth side of the belt rides on it.

I got mine from Autozone. I would think any of the parts stores would have them.

The pulley is not that hard to get. I believe it's a 3.5" smooth pulley, and the dayco number should be on our Series II faq somewhere. (where is that picture with the pulley diagram again? I can never find it for some reason. Maybe it's on page 1 of this very thread? - edit, hell yeah there it is on page 1)

The hard part is that you need to support the engine to remove the front bracket, it just unbolts but the lower engine bolt requires that the engine be raised and/or lowered to get the bolt past the subframe. (please do not jack it by the oilpan) That's really the biggest challenge of it. It's not hard to do, but it will take some time.

deekster_caddy wrote:

The hard part is that you need to support the engine to remove the front bracket, it just unbolts but the lower engine bolt requires that the engine be raised and/or lowered to get the bolt past the subframe. (please do not jack it by the oilpan) That's really the biggest challenge of it. It's not hard to do, but it will take some time.

Lowered. It's either an E10 or E8 Reverse Torx to get the stud that holds that sleeve out as well. I don't remember which....

I've always put a block under the trans on the driver side. Not the pan, the trans itself.

Quote :

I don't really want to risk having to wait until Monday or Tuesday and doing it in my auto shop class because I have to work on the weekends and also commute back and forth to school.

You can disconnect the SC belt and snake it through the pulleys, zip tie it off to the side of the engine bay without removing the mount. It's not the funnest driving, but it won't hurt the engine, and will get you by for a few days.

This job isn't so bad. If you have to take it to the dealer for this, you'd better save up for the next repair, as that will probably cost even more. These cars are dirt cheap to fix if you DIY, but can be expensive if you service at the dealer (applies to most cars nowadays).

I went to NAPA and the guy first handed me a much larger smooth plastic pulley and told him that wasn't it. I pulled him outside and showed him the pulley and he came back with a S/C belt tensioner pulley, which I thought would work, but if I need a 3.5" pulley, than it won't work I guess.

I am, so dumb!

I specifically remember looking and studying that pulley diagram and can't believe that I forgot it included the part number and the size of the pulley I needed. Ugh! I guess this NAPA pulley is going back and I'm going to Advance to get me part #89006. I typed in "89006" into Google and found eight available on Amazon and also found some available near me.

Got the pulley!!! I also picked up the accessory belt and idler/tensioner (?) pulley for that.

I got the car into the shop today and started this pulley replacement. The first two nuts for the motor mount came off fairly easily. The one underneath the mount took up a lot of time. We had to get a wrench onto it and use a hammer on the wrench to break it loose. After that, we jacked it up a little bit and were able to get one of the motor mount bolts out. We're stuck on one of them right now.

A lot of progress today! Got the motor mount out and the bolts for the power steering pump out. We were able to keep the pump and pulley assembly away from one of the motor mount bracket bolts by using a bungee cord type thing. We also removed two of the motor mount bracket bolts (the 15mm/E8 external torx ones). Now all is left is the 18mm bolt and we should be able to remove and install the new pulley tomorrow.

I can't wait to get this done. I miss driving the Riv around.

I am having some major issues! Today we got the pulley installed and tightened it down. We started on the engine bracket with the top most bolt and then the power steering pump bolt, but then realized we needed to start with the bottom most bolt, the one with the spacer. We unscrewed the first two bolts that we put in and were finally able to get the spacer in between the bracket and the engine itself. We tightened that bolt down. After that, we noticed that the bracket was hitting up against the pulley we just changed and thought maybe when we put the other two bolts in and tighten them, it'll clear the pulley...it didn't! I don't know what to do now.

The write-up calls for just slipping the spacer in between the bracket and the engine and putting the bolt in there, but not tightening. I tightened it, not thinking it would do anything. Could this be my problem?

Also, in the write-up it mentions a captive bolt design for the pulley and having to use a 15mm wrench. My pulley was held in with a T50 torx bolt. Am I missing something?

KnottyEagle wrote:

Also, in the write-up it mentions a captive bolt design for the pulley and having to use a 15mm wrench. My pulley was held in with a T50 torx bolt. Am I missing something?

The only pulley that should have a Torx bolt in it is the S/C tensioner pulley. All the rest are 6-points.
Are you sure the pulley you bought isn't too wide?

This one has a T50 torx for some reason. That's what I took the pulley out with.

It looks like the old and the new pulley are the same sizes. The part number is 89006 like the one in the diagram on the first page.

The pulley being changed in the write-up looks like It's taking a T50 torx bit. Then it looks like It's taking a 15mm bolt??

There are 2 spacers on that bracket. You sure you didn't drop one and forget to put it back in?

I only have the one spacer that goes to the 18mm bolt. It's longer and black (....). Is there supposed to be another one that goes to one of the 15mm bolts, or does it also go to the 18mm bolt? I noticed two different spacers in the write-up, but I only have one.

My guess is, you dropped one somewhere, and now the bracket is too close to the pulley.....

Looking at that diagram, there's supposed to be a spacer with the 15mm bolt that's hidden by the power steering pulley. That's the one I don't have. I didn't notice or hear anything when I took it out. BUT, later in the hour yesterday we randomly heard something fall in the engine and nobody was around the engine, so maybe it was that spacer falling.

I've done it before too.

You need to check every nook and cranny on that side of the engine. It's going to blend in REAL good. The last thing you need is that iron spacer sitting behind the Crank pulley or something.....

Abaddon wrote:

I've done it before too.

You need to check every nook and cranny on that side of the engine. It's going to blend in REAL good. The last thing you need is that iron spacer sitting behind the Crank pulley or something.....

If I'm lucky, it fell in between the grates in the floor and is sitting in some dirt.

I actually didn't even hear or see the spacer for the 18mm bolt come out. I just saw what looked like a deep socket sitting on my control arm and picked it up. That was a surprise because I knew something else was supposed to come with that bolt.