Hey guys. I got a pretty simple problem, and ergo a somewhat stupid question, but I need this fixed ASAP. My car is a '90 Loyale, just so you know.

 

So I was getting on the freeway today, and noticed white smoke from the back of the car. Pulled over and with the engine still running, took a peek under the hood. The belt was spinning very roughly. I had noticed weird noises with RPM changes all day, so I knew something was wrong. Anyways, I stopped the engine and took a look at the belt. The belt was torn at one place and almost ready to snap, as well as the fact that it seemed to have lost tension. Got a tow, and six hours later, I was back home (tow truck's hydraulics blew up as he was midway through unloading my car. ). It's dark now, so I can't really do much, but I was hoping someone could help me a bit with removing this belt.

 

First, it is the V-belt, not the timing belt. The one that connects the alternator, power steering, crankshaft, and water pump together (the first one in the picture below).

 

 

So what I'd like to know is, how to you remove tension and take off the belt? There is a radiator fan connected to the water pump (I believe), which prevents me from taking the belt out of the engine (once I somehow lose tension). Is there a quick way to disconnect the fan so I can take out the old belt and put the new one in? I noticed four nuts on pully near the fan, so disconnect those?

 

Like I said, it's dark right now, so I haven't done much tinkering. I won't be able to until later tomorrow, so I figured that'd give some time for somebody to reply. I know it's a really simple task, but I can't seem to remove tension or pull the belt off the pullys, let alone get it past that radiator fan. Okay, thanks!

Belt tension should be adjusted at the alternator. Once the belt is off all the pulleys, you should be able to work it past the fan, one blade at a time. It'll make sense when you get some light on it.

 

Josh

Thanks for the reply. Alright, I'll see with the fan.

 

About the alternator though.... I took a look at it and I only saw two bolts, one of which looked like an adjusting bolt. I removed that bolt, but I still could not move the alternator in any direction. I know on the EA81, it's very simple, as I've done that. But I don't know about this. It doesn't look like I could move it in a way that would lose tension, only increase it. But yeah, I'll get a better look tomorrow.

You're correct, there are only 2 bolts. You have to loosen (not remove) both.

If you've loosened both bolts and your alternator still will not budge, it's just seized into place. Give it a good whack, it'll move. You're going to want to push it in toward the engine, it has quite a bit of adjustment so when you move it to it's fully inner position (basically up against whatever is next to it) your belt will have barely any slack in it and you will be able to work it up/under/around anything that is in the way.

 

Good luck.

Thanks for your help! I got the belt replaced today, and it took more time to drive to O'Reilly than it did to take off the old belt and put on the new one. It was as simple as I thought it was gonna be, so thanks again for your help!