serpentine belt ('87 YJ)

There is an adjuster bolt on the power steering pump bracket that tightens the belt on later model 4.0L's. I would guess it's the same on the 4.2L. Are you going to replace the belt at the same time?

Check out

, they have free repair guides. If one for your Jeep doesn't come up, look at the one for a 90's Cherokee. It should be the same.

HTH

Carl

Well, you have the odd ball 4.2 with the long belt. The manual is referring to the V-belt engine, not yours.

You need to loosen the PS pump pivots and the bottom lock nut to loosen a long set screw in the right hand side of the PS pump to loosen the belt.

BUT! Why bother? I never loosen the belts when changing a waterpump. I just pull out the pump and put the new one back in. The belt will just go back to the same tightness it was before.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >

thanks all - as usual i appreciate the help. bill - i looked at your diagram but i think my set up is a bit different - i'm sure i dont have two idler pullys - possibly one... i have to look underneath the power steering pump and see. mike - i'd love to not bother with the belt unfortunately i dont think this belt has EVER been changed - its thouroughly cracked and this seems like a good a time as any to change it. one more question - i noticed that yesterday - after i had loosened all the alternator bolts and pounded and pried on it for a while before giving up and tightening all the bolts down again - i went for a drive and noticed that my alternator output is lower - only about 12.75-13V - down from about 14. hopefully only because the belt was loosened a little from all my pulling on it, and i did notice that the alternator shifted a bit when i loosened the bolts... so, i couldnt have damaged it too much from the rather 'forceful' methods i employed right? i am ashamed to say that i eventually even reached for the hammer... amatuer hour. oh well - i suppose the alternator would either work or not if i really damaged the stator... not just drop a volt or two - right? you can tell what it is that i want to hear here... thanks all. i'll tell you all how it goes... bennett

I would keep an eye on the alternator output. Dropping a volt or so can mean a diode died which will put more of an AC wave into the output and lower the DC power.

It also could just mean the belt is slipping some too....

You will know when you change it. Did you locate the adjusting bolt for the PS pump on the bottom right of it? Watch out for that damn lock bolt!

Mike

bobv>

thanks mike - havent had the chance to do it today. i'll know tomorrow... thanks to you and everyone else i can probably actually get it done! i thought this whole procedure was going to take me 45 minutes. serves me right for thinking i know what the hell i'm doing. cheers, bennett ps thanks to carl for the autozone link - thats quite a nice free resource!

Hey Bennett, It's me Kevin we have the exact same Jeep. That altenator is held in by a two piece adjusting bracket (one in front and one in back) so it is tricky to see what bolts are holding what. There are only 3 bolts you need to loosen to free the alternator. While standing in front of your Jeep and using the alternator as a clock face. The first is at about 2 o'clock and it is located about an inch directly below your AC compressor pulley. Ignore the obvious bolt you see there at 1 o'clock , it just attaches the alt. to the front adjusting bracket. The second bolt is at about 5 o'clock, this is the pivot bolt. Finally the last bolt is on the BACK SIDE of the alt. at the bottom just an inch from your fender well. This one you might want to remove completely since it will bind up the works if the bolt or bracket are bent at all. You then may have to pry up from underneath the Jeep to free it if it is really old. The thing will only pivot about an inch or two at best, but that should be plenty to remove and install the new belt. You'll basically be pulling it up towards the center of the the Jeep to get it to slacken the belt . When reinstalling if you have your stock lug wrench that is mounted right there on the fender well, Slide the end of that over the bolt there at 1 o'clock and push up with your left hand. This forces the alt. down thus tightening the belt and you can tighten those front two bolts with your right hand while keeping leverage on the pry bar with your left. Then tighten the rear bolt last. Good luck, I'd try this again before attacking the power steering pump which was not designed to adjust tension on your belt system. Any luck with that info on your emissions label under the hood? Let me know if you have problems. Kevin

You can undo a flat 'serpentine' belt with the alternator????? He doesn't have V-belts....

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >

hmmmm... ok i'm going out to look at it now. and hey there kevin - yeah i looked under the hood but no love on the emissions data... cant find the sticker. there is some insulation under my hood so perhaps it is under that... where exactly would it be located? thanks for the detailed alternator description... i'm going to investigate this and will get back to you.

- bennett

ok - just went and had a look and now i am seriously confused... i dont see any adjuster bolt on the power steering pump bracket... just two bolts on a bracket to attach to water pump, and then two bolts in the rear of the PS pump attaching it to a bracket... it all appears pretty damn rigid. as per your instructions kevin, i did loosen all the damn bolts on that whole POS and still couldnt move it noticeably - altho my belt is looser now... by a fraction. what gives? i feel quite idiotic.

-bennett

The PS pump has one bolt in the front top, one in the rear top and one in the rear bottom on a slot. The slot is hard to see. The bottom back bolt is the first one to retighten. You have to use a box end wrench on the front bolt because it is under the pulley.

Then on the very right side of it, there is a long screw with a slot head in a hex head. This will be at the right bottom looking from the front.

Then in the front bottom, there will be a bolt on the bracket that jams this long screw and has to be loosened or you will snap the screw.

Mike

bobv>

thanks for the links bill - however mine doesnt have an idler pully - just the alt, the ac, the crank. the water pump, and the PS... so its a slightly different set up. i did crawl around underneath it and the alt bracket LOOKS like it SHOULD be adjustable... but isnt. mike - sounds like thats probably right - waiting for daylight and then i'll take another shot. cheers all. bennett

All I can tell you is that the brackets may be bent fron an accident. Back the bolts way out of their seats, especially the one on the back and the one under the AC compressor pulley. Then just work that sucker back and forth until it moves freely. And again I really don't think you can replace a belt on our setup by removing the PS pump bolts, none of them are designed to be adjustable. You'll get it off but you'll never get a belt back on with any tension in it.

No worries on the emissions sticker, it should be in plain view near the front of the underside of the hood.

In article , bobvonbob wrote: #ok - just went and had a look and now i am seriously confused... i dont #see any adjuster bolt on the power steering pump bracket... just two #bolts on a bracket to attach to water pump, and then two bolts in the #rear of the PS pump attaching it to a bracket... it all appears pretty #damn rigid. #as per your instructions kevin, i did loosen all the damn bolts on that #whole POS and still couldnt move it noticeably - altho my belt is #looser now... by a fraction.

Take a look at the bracket that holds the alternator in place. There should be a 1/2 inch square hole somewhere on it. That is for your long handled torque wrench/breaker bar/rachet. When re-tightening the belt, the bolt that needs to be tightened first is the one going to the long curved slot in the bracket. You need a new belt when you get to the end of the curve when tightening the belt...

I've replaced the water pump on my '87 YJ more times than I care to remember. Also, you may want to check to see if the previous owner or mechanic munged up the the bracket, which will cause the belt to skip then tear on the pully...

/herb

I am still curious here...

Do 'you' have a serpentine belt on your 87 like the OP or do you have V-belts?

As far as I know, the alternator only adjusts if you have V-belts, the PS pump adjusts if you have the serpentine belt.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Jan/06 (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)