Before I even try, I thought I'd ask here. Is there something that can be removed, or swung out of the way (e.g. alternator), to fit this thing? Or something that can be made easily? Does it stretch enough to just pull like mad?
I asked a garage about this, having seen that my Tranny alt belt is of that type - the special tool isn't needed, but it's a bit of an awkward bugger to get on. From what I recall, the trick is to get it mostly on then turn the engine over - which is something I've done with awkward V-belts. So far I haven't had to replace it, but when I put the van back on the road that will have to be done, I think - it's old enough to be tempting fate now.
Thanks. Sounds a bit scary, but I'll try it if necessary.
For anyone reading this in the future. It was a bit of a pain, but not too bad. The belt comes off easy enough (instructions say to cut it off, but I never destroy an old part till the new ones on and working). To get it off, I just put a piece of rope around the bottom run, and pulled it toward me, while turning the crack and moving the rope away from the pulley an inch at a time. The belt flopped off easily enough. Getting the new one on was the real pain. The belt is nice and stretchy, so the tightness isn't a problem, but it did tend to flop off the idler wheel just as it looked like it was nearly on. I had the missus hold a square bar in a nice narrow gap in the engine bay between the idler wheel and the car body. That was enough to keep it in place. So, half an hour faffing and cursing on my own. Two minutes with the missus helping. I'm not sure how much the tool (I'm talking about the £5 thing you see on eBay) would have helped. Getting it onto the bottom wheel is no problem. Stopping it flopping off the idler was the real problem for me.
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