How do I install an engine belt?

[Azndude51]

My power steering stopped working this morning, when I opened up the hood, I noticed that a belt came off its pulleys. It looks to be the one attached to the power steering pump, so I think that's my problem.

What's the proper way to put it back on? I can't seem to stretch it over the pulleys while they're still in place.

 

[iamwiz82]

There should be a way to tension or un-tension the belt. Some are spring loaded, some are manually tensioned via a bolt.

 

[jagec]

Idler pulley?

 

[ViviTheMage]

idler/tensioner pulley, its a serpentine/accessories belt. Usually a crescent wrench can pull it back and let you pop in a new one...I wouldn't drive without it, because your bat will die.....

 

[Azndude51]

I'm not really mechanically inclined, so I'm not really sure which is the idler/tensioner or whatever. I took a picture here You can see the pump pully at the top and the engine pulley to its bottom right. Those are the only two I see and the rubber belt is just large enough to go around those two, but too small to stretch them on. It's a 2000 Honda Accord 4 cylinder, btw.

 

[helpme]

The tensioner will probably be a smaller pully. You use a wrench as previously stated to turn it. Instead of "turning", it will move out of the way, giving you more slack to get the belt back on.

You may have to look from under the car to see it. I'm not sure about that car since I don't have one.

It could look like http://www.ls1howto.com/howto/...pics/060removebelt.jpg but won't be in the front of the motor like in this picture.

 

[natto fire]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
idler/tensioner pulley, its a serpentine/accessories belt. Usually a crescent wrench can pull it back and let you pop in a new one...I wouldn't drive without it, because your bat will die.....

Uhhh, the power steering pump does not charge the battery. Yes, if he had a single serpentine belt, it would be necessary to replace it immediately because the alternator is needed to keep the battery charged. However, many cars do not use serpentine belts, and the OP's Honda is one of them.

Also most Honda motors do not use an idler pulley on the power steering belt. Again the OP's (Accord, right?) car fits this situation.

OP: Are you saying the belt fell off and was still intact? That would be rather strange. Anyhow, to put on a new belt or to replace your belt, you have to move the power steering pump itself. There is a long adjusting bolt as well as a lock nut and a pinch bolt that will need to be loosened. You will need a 10 12 and I believe 14mm socket. I would personally buy a new belt either way. I could explain in further detail, or if you took a picture from the other side of the power steering pump I could diagram what you need to do.

 

[Azndude51]

Thanks for the advice everyone, after some fiddling around I got the belt back on and my power steering working again. I think iamwiz82 was correct about the manual tensioner via bolt. The entire pump was attached to the engine by only two bolts, one of them acted like a pivot and the other allowed the pump to rotate around the pivot point along a slot when loosened. I just untightened both of them and was able to make enough slack to get the belt back on. However, since it's manually tensioned, I couldn't get the belt as tight as it is on my roommate's Civic. It should be tight enough to stay on though and I guess the worse that can happen is that it'll just pop off again.



EDIT: Woops, I posted this without refreshing first so I didn't see Captain Howdy's post. Too bad you didn't post earlier, it could've saved me a lot of time messing around with the thing, but thanks for the great detailed instructions anyways. I thought it was pretty weird too that the belt came off intact, it could be from the huge temperature fluctuations were having around here but IDK. It doesn't look damaged at all, so I'll just keep using it until it breaks or comes off again.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: Captain Howdy

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
idler/tensioner pulley, its a serpentine/accessories belt. Usually a crescent wrench can pull it back and let you pop in a new one...I wouldn't drive without it, because your bat will die.....

Uhhh, the power steering pump does not charge the battery. Yes, if he had a single serpentine belt, it would be necessary to replace it immediately because the alternator is needed to keep the battery charged. However, many cars do not use serpentine belts, and the OP's Honda is one of them.

Also most Honda motors do not use an idler pulley on the power steering belt. Again the OP's (Accord, right?) car fits this situation.

OP: Are you saying the belt fell off and was still intact? That would be rather strange. Anyhow, to put on a new belt or to replace your belt, you have to move the power steering pump itself. There is a long adjusting bolt as well as a lock nut and a pinch bolt that will need to be loosened. You will need a 10 12 and I believe 14mm socket. I would personally buy a new belt either way. I could explain in further detail, or if you took a picture from the other side of the power steering pump I could diagram what you need to do.

my car has it all tied together.....which is why i said it. he never said what car he has!

 

[Azndude51]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage

Originally posted by: Captain Howdy

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
idler/tensioner pulley, its a serpentine/accessories belt. Usually a crescent wrench can pull it back and let you pop in a new one...I wouldn't drive without it, because your bat will die.....

Uhhh, the power steering pump does not charge the battery. Yes, if he had a single serpentine belt, it would be necessary to replace it immediately because the alternator is needed to keep the battery charged. However, many cars do not use serpentine belts, and the OP's Honda is one of them.

Also most Honda motors do not use an idler pulley on the power steering belt. Again the OP's (Accord, right?) car fits this situation.

OP: Are you saying the belt fell off and was still intact? That would be rather strange. Anyhow, to put on a new belt or to replace your belt, you have to move the power steering pump itself. There is a long adjusting bolt as well as a lock nut and a pinch bolt that will need to be loosened. You will need a 10 12 and I believe 14mm socket. I would personally buy a new belt either way. I could explain in further detail, or if you took a picture from the other side of the power steering pump I could diagram what you need to do.

my car has it all tied together.....which is why i said it. he never said what car he has!

Yeah, sorry I forgot to mention the type of car I had in my OP. I didn't post any of that info until after you posted. You can clearly see in the pic that the alternator is on a separate belt.

Oh and I edit my previous post if you guys didn't notice it.

 

[natto fire]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
my car has it all tied together.....which is why i said it. he never said what car he has!

I know, I wasn't trying to give you a hard time, just trying to point out that serpentine belts are not as common as some people think, especially those who mostly drive domestics. After I typed the response, I realized he did not have the picture in the OP, but a few posts down, my mistake.