Well, yesterday I heard a 'slapping' sound from under the hood, checked it out, decided it was the obviously recently chewed VBelt, 60K miles original. Spent some time replacing it (oh what fun), now the wife says the same problem is back today, with the new belt. I did notice that the tension idler appeared to be kind of cockeyed when putting the new belt on, with relation to the other pulleys, but didn't give it a second thought. Now I conclude that that assembly must be bad, so have priced another ($50 at AZone), going to pick it up tonight. So here's my question: Does anyone have any hints for replacing this part? Replacing the belt yesterday I found to be mid-range difficult, finally had to get some help from my neighbor, plus rented a tool from AZone to relieve the tension on the idler assembly, thanks to the fact that I couldn't get a normal tool in place to do so. Any help/advice is appreciated, by the way the van has the 3.3 liter, and uses the single VBelt.
Thanks in advance!
gas28man
07-25-2005, 05:47 PM
Never replaced the tensioner myself, but in replacing the serpentine belt, I went and bought an extra-long 15 mm combination wrench that does the job just fine. There are two tricks involved to it.
First, get a piece of wood or something to support your hood, and put the prop rod down, as it's right in the way of you getting your best leverage.
The second trick is not making the tensioner pulley the last thing you thread the belt onto. Instead, thread the belt onto all the pulleys except the ungrooved one right in front of the tensioner. With a nice, long wrench, you can get leverage on it with one hand, and slip the belt on with the other.
Now replacing the tensioner itself is another story. I've never attempted one, and from the accounts I've read, don't look forward to doing so.
Good luck.
Rick
dovecs
07-26-2005, 01:03 PM
Thanks for the tips, Rick. FYI, I got the older tensioner off and new one on in about 20 minutes, the tough part is reaching the nut that holds it down. I jacked up the van on the passenger side, then slid underneath, the nut is visible, near the rear exhaust manifold. I used a swivel 15mm socket, and two extensions, took a little bit of trying, and some prayer BTW, but I got it. Once that was done, I followed your advice for installing the belt, cake! Thanks for your help again!
gas28man
07-26-2005, 04:02 PM
Cool. Thanks for the tips on the tensioner. I'll file it for future use. You should know, if you plan on keeping your van for an extended period of time, that they fail about every 75,000-100,000 miles. I'm at 295,000 on my 96, and she's on her fourth tensioner. No other engine problems, however, and still doesn't use a quart between changes.
Rick
dovecs
07-27-2005, 08:06 PM
Rick,
WOW, 295,000 miles, what engine do you have, and whats your secret? How about tranny, which one do you have?
Jay :gr_patrio
gas28man
07-28-2005, 10:46 AM
It's the 3.8. I think they all have the same tranny, the 4-speed automatic. My secret is to just always keep the damn thing running. I'm not fanatical about maintenance. I change oil around every 6,000-7,000 miles, and just use the regular motor oil at the recommended weight. No synthetics, and none of that 3,000-mile oil change crap. That's a scam designed by the oil industry to sell more oil, and as an environmentalist, I don't like putting that much waste oil back in the waste stream. I read an article in Consumer Reports a couple of years back where they did a ton of research, side-by-side tests, measures of viscosity, measures of engine wear, etc., etc. They concluded that modern motor oils do not lose any significant amount of their viscosity until around 7,500 miles, and even then, it falls off slowly until around 9,000 miles. Then it falls off steeply. The most interesting thing was that there was no measureable difference among brands. As long as what you bought had the SAE seal on it, you could buy the 99-cent a quart store brand or the $1.50-a-quart Castrol and get identical protection. Synthetics, they said, held their viscosity about 10 percent longer, but gave barely measurable improvement in engine wear protection, and were not worth the added price.
I get the coolant flushed every year or so, but I don't think that makes much difference except to keep the water pump lubricated. When my radiator sprung a leak two years ago, it looked better on the inside than the outside. Michigan salting of roads had made the radiator corrode from the outside in.
At some point, I'm sure I'll need a timing chain, but this engine has never been opened up except for at about 80,000 miles when the kid at the quick oil change store stripped the oil pan drain plug and I had to have a new one put on. I'm a little afraid to mess with success, ya know?
I'm on the pit crew of an ARCA RE/Max Series race team, and I asked our engine man about my engine, and he concluded that it has lasted because I drive so much for work, and of course traveling with the team. I average around 30,000 miles a year, and for a couple of years, did about 50,000 miles a year. He said engines were made to run, and are happiest when they are running. When engines sit, he said, is when gaskets dry out, cylinder walls lose lubrication, etc., etc.
So my advice, run the thing into the ground. The irony is the more you try to, the less likely it is that you will.
