hey this is my first time replacing the belt and I inserted the breaker bar and locked the tensioner and removed the old belt and aligned the new belt in place and theres maybe half a inch thats not going in. Is there something I'm doing wrong? I got the right size but its just not lining up on the final pulley. Please any help would be appreciated, I've searched and searched. Thanks

 

3hrs LATER, broken belt remover tool, fan shroud, back and *****. This can't be done with one person. Even if I remove the upper radiator hose I don't think I can move the adjuster any further back. The gator belt seems to be too short.

 

4hrs of manual labor @ $300 my time vs 1hr dealer cost @ $120 = here's my express card!



The absolutely most important step which absolutely no one mentioned in any thread or video in googleville ...put belt under the top center pulley until you have looped it around every other pulley, then (drum roll, please) pull up and over the top center pulley and bob's your uncle!

 

I just replaced my serpentine as I was having some squealing, but it didn't resolve the issue. Then I read this thread and noticed that my auto tensioner was under tensioned, so I put in a new one -- and it is STILL showing under tensioned.

The belt was an OEM Nissan. I'm not sure what else could be contributing to under-tensioning other than the belt and auto tensioner. I'm beginning to think the squealing is coming from someplace else.

Symptoms:

Car squeals only while in motion. Can be in gear, or in neutral & coasting.
The loudness does not seem to be overly tied to engine speed...perhaps not tied to it at all. Seems random, actually. Sometimes loud, sometimes quiet, regardless of speed.

The squeal is NOT present at all while the car is stationary, even if the engine is revved.

(still while stationary) the squeal does NOT occur when turning on A/C or any other electronics, so it doesn't appear to be alternator related

Squeal does not seem to be related to power steering. Turning the wheel while stationary does not emit squealing.

Doesn't really sound like brake pad indicators, which is more metallic scraping sound in my experience, vs this high-pitched squealing (not chirping, just a steady high-pitched squeal).

Somebody suggested wheel bearing, but others have said that would sound more like a "clunk" than a squeal.

Thoughts?

 

Hello, You have the coolant tank part number?

thank you.