Fan belt serpentine belt replacement.

[Carl.1]

Hello all.

For my sins the serpentine belt batterred itself to death the other day on my way home.
So i stopped at the first opportunity and had a look under the bonnet. Not a trace of it left which explains why the car behind backedc off!
So, i only had six miles to go and as i had not turned the car off i headed home with heavy steering and  today got round to fitting a new belt.

What a pain in rear end!! I have done fan belts before and none were the irritant this was. I have a 1991 1.9d with aircon and power steering and fitted a 6PK1750.

Getting it off had already been done! So on with it. Wheel off, car jacked up, wheel well liner out and then the fun started.
The point you put your tool to release tension on the cam ...a 10mm square piece for gods sake is between the engine and the bodywork! So without a special tool it is rather awkward. So after loosening the allen head and spinning a cam to get some slack, (here you use a 7mm square piece!) you find there is not enough slack and you can not, with out the special tool, turn the other cam on the tensioner back far enough.
This is the imprtant cam you need to move to give enough slack and it is held there by a fecking great spring.
Bugger.
So after some mutterring and tea i bodged up a solution.
Bottle jack under car, on which was a long rod that i fed through to the back side of the cam so it could push the cam back as i wound it up. Tension held back and now space enough to fit the belt...just.

So , if any one there has done this themselves and found an easier route please shout up for the sake of all those about to experience the same.

[Kieron G]

What a struggle that job is. On our dw8 there is a small idler roller near where the screwdriver is on your picture is. it only slightly defects the belt. I incorrectly routed the belt so the ribs ran on it. 5,000 miles later the belt shredded. Fitted new belt with the back face against this idler roller as it should be and has been fine. Not sure what it is there for maybe to keep the belt steady

[Carl.1]

What a struggle that job is. On our dw8 there is a small idler roller near where the screwdriver is on your picture is.  it only slightly defects the belt. I incorrectly routed the belt so the ribs ran on it. 5,000 miles later the belt shredded. Fitted new belt with the back face against this idler roller as it should be and has been fine. Not sure what it is there for maybe to keep the belt steady

The upper small roller is the one that has the massive spring pushing it in place, the second one under it is on a concentric cam so you can relieve tension on the belt or tighten it. There is enough movement in it for that alone but not for a belt change.

[Kieron G]

What a struggle that job is. On our dw8 there is a small idler roller near where the screwdriver is on your picture is.  it only slightly defects the belt. I incorrectly routed the belt so the ribs ran on it. 5,000 miles later the belt shredded. Fitted new belt with the back face against this idler roller as it should be and has been fine. Not sure what it is there for maybe to keep the belt steady

The upper small roller is the one that has the massive spring pushing it in place, the second one under it is on a concentric cam so you can relieve tension on the belt or tighten it. There is enough movement in it for that alone but not for a belt change.

The roller / pulley I'm commenting on is at the bottom between the crankshaft and alternator only about 3cm in diameter. Fitted on an engine without aircon