Ok, i think one of my belts is squeeking and making a racket.

I was considering doing this myself. I've never done belts before, so is it a pain in the *** or should i get it professionally done.

Also, should i get a underdrive pulley while i'm at it? or is it not worth it?

 

Unless your belts are over 50k miles, you shouldn't have to replace them. Just tighten them and the squeeling should go away. You'll see the tensioners on the alternator and power steering.
The underdrive pulley is easy to install. It took me less than an hour. I've had it for around 11k miles now and still love it. It hasa noticeable gain in first gear but it's up to you if it's worth $200.

 

i just had all my belts replaced and mine make a whole lotta raquet...it seems to be only whenits cold....is that just the breaking in period or do they need to be tightened??

 

when you install new belts. After 100 miles, they should be retesioned. If they were never retensioned (just installed and only tensioned once), that might be the cause of your problem.

Retension the belts and see how that does.

 

hmmm... i actually tightened them and the squeaking is louder! smile.gif hehehehe, so i loosed the top one (on the powersteering pulley) and it stops squeaking, but its looking a little too loose wink

I think i'm going to change out the belts, because i've been driving it pretty hard. Is it easy to do if i've never done it before?

 

Hey Decker, I just did all three of my belts this past Sunday. I've never done it before on the tib until sunday so i must admit it was a lot easier than expected. You'll need 10mm 12mm and 14mm sockets.

1...)I changed my belts without a hitch without removing the passenger side tire and the fenderwell. You will however have to remove the plastic splash guard the covers the bottom of that side of the engine. Should be 5 screws 10mm.

2...)I started with the powersteering pully first since it was out in the open. Its pretty straight forward..loosen the bolt under the pump that it pivots off (14mm i think. I used a wrench instead of a socket; it wouldn't fit)and of course the tensioner bolt (14mm). I actually removed the tensioner bolt completely so that the alternator would have a better range of motion to slide the belts on/off; you may need a breaker bar for this one.

3...)Next i crawled under the car (used a hydralic jack to scoot the car up a few inches) and loosened the bolts that keep the alternator in place (pivot bolt (12mm i think) and then tensioner (12mm i think)..except this tensioner assembly has a locking bolt (12mm) thats perpendicular to a bolt you actually turn for tension. I removed this little assembly altogether to give the alternator better range of motion too. This belt is the easiest to remove.

4...)Last of course is the A/C belt. You'll probably have to be under the car to manage this one unless your gumby. The tensioner dead pully is in the back towards the firewall. It's a pain to reverse the direction of the pully (bolt is 12mm) due to the weird angle but once you back it out all the way go ahead and remove the pully (i think the bolt that holds the pully is 12mm). This will indefinitley make your life easier when putting the new belt on. Before doing this as a last resort, i was almost sure i bought the wrong belt!

5...)Now remove that belt and the powersteering belt and install the new ones! Hope this helps.

[ December 10, 2002, 09:05 AM: Message edited by: Koreandude ]

 

thankx dude, you just earned a big phatty 5 star rating wink

 

If the belt is old and glazed, yes tightening it will make it louder. If the belt is OVERTIGHT to begin with, over tightening it will of course make it even worse.

When you install your new belts, consider buying belt dressing. it keeps them from cracking and glazing. Give your belts a little shot of it every time you change your oil. Just enough to dampen the belt, don't SOAK it. If you start to get "fling off" you've put on too much. Put it on in the "v" of a pully, on the "counterclockwise" side of the pully. This will allow the rotation of the pully to force the dressing into the belt. Spray for about 3 seconds, then wait 15 or 20 seconds, then give it another shot, then wait...repeat till the entire belt is damp (NOT WET...just DAMP).

 

check your altenator bracket i have a 98 tib and the bracket broke causing the alt belt to be lose and squeal the i belive 2000 and newer have a heavyier duty bracket just a suggestion though.