my serpentine belt finally went out and i am thinking about replacing it myself. is this a real pain in the butt job? or would i be better off having a mechanic install the new belt? are any special tools needed? thanks, cj
1997 grand am
Apr 01, 2010
3 Replies
No special tools needed. I could RR it in 10 minutes. My ex wife would never be able to do it. Not in a million years. You may be somewhere in between.
You may want to do some searching on the internet, from what I've seen it requires loosening motor mounts and jacking the engine. I was a simple job on my 98 Grand Prix with 3800 engine, only took 20 minutes and that included changing the idler pulley, which by the way has a left hand threaded nut/bolt holding it on.
If you are even partially mechanically inclined, you can do it. Follow the routing diagram that is posted under the hood, and you'll be OK. No special tools are needed. I would, though, recommend that you carefully inspect the pulleys as long as you have it everything apart, as they can and do crack and break...this I know from personal experience.
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