So I'll give some background. I had a girl in my car that I was trying to impress, so from a stop sign on a dead street that there are no kids (blah blah blah, it's completely safe, trust me ). So I start out half throttle and then just foot to floor WOT, I notice transmission's not shifting at the regular point it normally does (around 4,500RPM), gets up to about 5,200 RPM, I hear a -SNAP- and the transmission shifts at the same time. I'm thinking "ooh well maybe that was just the torque converter hitting the flywheel really hard and it was a clanging sound not a snap". Well, once the road starts to turn (about half a mile up the road) I notice it is REALLY FREAKIN HARD to turn.

First thing that comes to mind is the main accessory belt snapped, and I was going to overheat in about 1 or 2 minutes. So being in the neighborhood I pull over, pop the hood, and thankfully that was not the case, so next thing I check is the power steering belt...and the girl comes out of the car and goes "what's wrong with it?" in my suaveness "well... where once there was belt, there is no longer."... it was humorous at the time atleast, had to be there

So basically I drive it back to the house and park it. So I went out and got the belt for it yesterday, and tommorow I have the day off. Thing is, I have NO idea how to change a belt. I've been reading up on it some and it just confused me more haha. I did manage to gather that there are like 3 or 4 layers of belts, and that the power steering one was the very last one that you had to deal with (figures).

My question to you all is... is there any specialty tool i absolutely require to do the job? And what do I need to know to do this? I am soooo clueless on this. I have a chiltons and shop manual... but neither of them are very descriptive. it says something along the line of "loosen the belt tensioner, and replace belt" ... how helpful is that, I mean really... lol.

Thanks in advance guys!!

 

Least you didn't do what my friend did:

Friend: "Hmmm... we're outta gas.. what now?"

G/F: "Reeeeaally...."

LOL, and he really was outta gas

 

All you need are a few wrenches to loosen some bolts. On my LG4, they were like 1/2", 5/8", and 9/16". For all the accessories there are 2 bolt points. There is the pivot point, where the accessory hinges on, and there is the tensioner bolt, that you adjust and slide around to increase/decrease belt tension.

It's pretty much straight forward when you actually look at it. Just loosen the pivot bolt a bit and loosen the tensioner bolt. Slide things in towards the water pump and you can pull the belts off.

 

hahaha, classic.... that's the exact reason I fill up my tank at 1/4 a tank....

Thanks Stekman, I think from your other posts that I looked at in my searches of the forum I understand what you are talking about. I'll tell yah how it turns out tommorow

 

The Fonz uses the old "we are outta gas trick to get the women LOL"

So hopefully he will ride by and give you gas out of his bike...

WOW I'm tired. And I watch way to much happy days.

Changing the belt should not be to hard. I'm not sure on a lg4 but most V-belt setups have either a tensioner pulley or the actual PS pump will adjust. Fine the bolt...loosen it and you should be able to get the belt on. Pull the belt tight and then tighten the bolt back down. Good Luck.

 

I know, that's why it's a classic The Fonz is the greatest! eeeeehhhh -thumbs up-

 

My LG4, the P/S is adjustable. My Camaro has an adjustable P/S, too. And that was a 305 CFI.

The P/S pulley should be the shortest belt that goes between the crank and the P/S pulley, and ONLY those 2. It is the only belt that does NOT route around the water pump.

Sellmanb,

Ever find that vacuum leak?

 

havent found the vacuum leak just yet, all hoses seemed to be in their proper place, going to replace tubing soon for maintenance reasons, hoping that'll make it work.

I have a belt that is long enough to go around the crank, P/S pump, and air conditioning.... the guy at NAPA said I needed it that length if I had a/c at all, so I was just going off his info.

Thanks for the follow up I should be able to get around to it today, have to head up to the college around here with a friend and help her do a class (same girl that was in the car with me at the time my belt went superman) so later this evening I'll post a reply

Thanks again, I really appreciate the help!

 

Okay so I looked under there again today, saw where the alternator, smog pump (i'm guessing that's what it is), and power steering all have a "guided collapse" and just loosened em all up, put the new belt on, slapped the other two on and started the car. It was sooo easy, I could do it again in ~10 mins easily if I had to I think.

The belts were a bit loose though, and it was hard for me to keep the belt tight enough while i was wrenching them back on, so I babied it.... you know... "MOOOOOOOM!" :lala: Had her pull or push as needed while I tightened, easy as pie, and the power steering works even better than before.... and so does the A/C, I actually feel cold air now! Amazing things....

Thanks for all your help Stekman!

 

Not a problem. Glad things worked out for you.