#102402, "Estimated cost to replace PS/AC and Alternator Belts in Socal?" Dec-22-06 10:18 AM by eclipse804
Hi all, just shredded the power steering/AC belt on the 2gnt last night. Am in the process of ordering the belts that fit the AFX UDP (should be in by tomorrow). Anyone have an idea how much a mechanic will charge to replace both of the accessory belts? I just want a rough estimate, in order to figure out if I should attempt this on my own, as I have hardly any tools here with me. Thanks!
________________________________________
2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl 1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl
#102403, "RE: Estimated cost to replace PS/AC and Alternator Belts in Socal?" In response to Reply # 0
All you need is a 10mm, a 13mm, and a 14mm.
______________________________ If a sentence found online has 35% misspellings or greater and includes at least two racially charged expletives, chances are it is a YouTube comment.
'95 Eclipse TurboGS (garage deco) '95 TSi AWD (restoring a survivor) '97 Talon ESi-T (poor impulse control) '99 Eclipse RS-T (daily beater) '13 Evo X (mostly stock) '17 Sienna (Middle Aged Dad Mobile)
#102404, "RE: Estimated cost to replace PS/AC and Alternator Belts in Socal?" In response to Reply # 1
Do it yourself, its insanely easy. Just don't overtighten the tensioner.
If you really want a mechanic to do it, it should be no more than $45 labor (since they typically charge by the whole hour, which I would dispute). It's a 10 minute job at most.
#102406, "RE: Estimated cost to replace PS/AC and Alternator Belts in Socal?" In response to Reply # 2 Dec-22-06 02:26 PM by eclipse804
Thanks guys, are there any 2gnt writeups on this? When I'm looking at the PS/AC pulleys, from top to bottom, I see a grooved pulley, smooth pulley, then another grooved pulley. Is the smooth pulley in the middle the tensioner? Do I just loosen the bolt for this?
There is also another grooved pulley that is more towards the rear of the engine bay, and I assume I don't have to loosen that one. I really have no idea what I'm doing as I've never replaced a serpentine belt before, but I'll give it a try...any tips would help!
EDIT: I just looked at it some more and got the old belt off. The tensioner pulley (middle smooth one I think?) was loose. Could this be why it shredded the belt? After pulling the old belt off, I noticed this pulley was loose enough that it moved about 1/2"-1" from where it should have been.
Also, are there any diagrams of how the belts should be routed around these 4 pulleys? Tried looking on CAPS but didn't seem to find it...thanks!
________________________________________
2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl 1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl
______________________________ If a sentence found online has 35% misspellings or greater and includes at least two racially charged expletives, chances are it is a YouTube comment.
'95 Eclipse TurboGS (garage deco) '95 TSi AWD (restoring a survivor) '97 Talon ESi-T (poor impulse control) '99 Eclipse RS-T (daily beater) '13 Evo X (mostly stock) '17 Sienna (Middle Aged Dad Mobile)
#102412, "RE: Estimated cost to replace PS/AC and Alternator Belts in Socal?" In response to Reply # 3 Dec-22-06 05:14 PM by thedawg
Originally posted by eclipse804The tensioner pulley (middle smooth one I think?) was loose. Could this be why it shredded the belt?
Yes that's exactly why the belt shredded. The bearing may be going bad or it may have just never been torqued down to begin with. Jamesman found a cheap bearing replacement a long time ago if you need one, just search.
The long bolt on top is for tensioning the tensioner, and the bolt to the side is to lock it down. Also make sure all 3 of the bolts on the power steering pump are tight.
The idea is to take up 99% of the slack with the swinging power steering pump, lock that down, then fine tune it with the tensioner, and lock down the tensioner bolt. Lots of people break the tensioner bolt because they try to overcompensate with it or bottom it out rather than using the adjustment in the power steering pump.
As far as tension, you should just be able to turn the belt 90* by pinching it between 2 fingers.
#102419, "RE: Estimated cost to replace PS/AC and Alternator Belts in Socal?" In response to Reply # 5 Dec-23-06 09:14 AM by eclipse804
Thanks, that reallys helps! So basically I loosen the power steering pump (top pulley), get the belt on and then adjust the power steering pump to get most of the slack. After tightening down the PS pump, I then use the long bolt on the tensioner to set the tension properly, and then finally lock it down using the nut on the side. Is that are there is to it? Am I missing any other steps or things to loosen/tighten? Thanks!
EDIT: One final question - should I replace the alternator belt as well? I'd rather not if I don't have to (both belts are about the same age (4 years old, 40k miles), but they both looked fine to me. No excessive cracks or anything. I'm hoping somehow the tensioner for the PS/AC got loose and that's what shredded the belt.
________________________________________
2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl 1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl
#102425, "RE: Estimated cost to replace PS/AC and Alternator Belts in Socal?" In response to Reply # 7
THanks Dan, got the new belt on. I noticed that when I first started the car, I could hear the pulley spinning really loudly. Seemed like the sound may be coming from the tensioner pulley. Is that a sign of a bad bearing? It seemed to go away as the car warmed up after a minute or two though.
I still get very light squeaking, but that has happened ever since I first got the AFC UDP on over 4 years ago, so I'm not too worried about it. What do you think of the loud spinning (kind of like a whirring sound) before it warms up though?
________________________________________
2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl 1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl
#102428, "RE: Estimated cost to replace PS/AC and Alternator Belts in Socal?" In response to Reply # 8
Probably the belt is too loose if it was a loud screeching howl, or maybe one of the grooves wasn't in one of the pulleys straight and it took a second to line up.
If you're hearing a metallic grinding noise, it could be the pulley bearing going bad.
#102457, "RE: Estimated cost to replace PS/AC and Alternator Belts in Socal?" In response to Reply # 10
Yup I was going to just pay someone to do this at first, but got convinced to try it. Seems to work fine right now, although I do hear a light metallic spinning sound (is this normal?). It's not really too loud unless you stick your head near the belts. Thanks again for all your help!
________________________________________
2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl 1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl
Search
Printer-friendly copy
0 Users in Chat
