I was in a British sports car place getting my oil changed on my '03 MCS and they said that the serpentine belt was pretty run-down. They said that to replace it with the part and all the labor would be $150. So my question is... is that something I can replace on my own? Those belts only run about $30 on various mini sites. I does look a little tricky to get at but I've also got a great mechanic who has done various things on my car and he said he could figure it out. Any suggestions? Has anyone replaced the belt on their own?

 

the belt is not to hard to replace. you do need the special tool for the tensioner though to do it. also to change it you have to jack up the passenger side, pull the front wheel off, and also the passenger side wheel well needs to come out. at that point its not to hard just a little tricky to fish the belt aroun the pulleys. not sure if that is the technical way to do it but that is how i do mine.

 

I just did my belt two nights ago. I got a 03 with 37k on it with a 15%pulley. You need to buy the belt tension tool if you want to get it done quick and easy. It was the first time i did it and it took me about 30min in the night using a crappy flash light.

 

are you serious?

When i did my pulley, i didn't have to pull the wheel. holy crap! I got the tool though.

 

Pulley or belt? Totally different procedures. I didn't have to remove the fender when I did the pulley either, but I did have the engine 1/2 out of the car

Nik

 

well everytime i change my belt, it is because it has shredded and has wrapped around pulleys. i have never tried to do it without removing the wheel well

 

are there any tools that are better, easier, cheaper than the others? Artoo now has 75,000 miles and it seems like a good excuse to buy a new tool.

What are your experiences?

Rich

 

i dont know of any other tool used other than the one you can buy at the dealer. im not sure if any aftermarket places sell them.

 

Outmotoring.com has their own tool that is reinforced more than the OEM...less expensive too.

 

Hmmm . . . 93k on my S . . . maybe it's time to change the belt on my car! Please explain the use of the tool for this application. Thanks!

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=81741

 

I took my wheel off. It makes it a lot easier.

 

just changed my belt this afternoon. Only had to put the car on ramps and remove the plastic cover underneath and use the tool from the top. Took like 10 minutes.

Understand about the engine being halfway out when doing pulley install, it does make it alot easier....lol.

 

How many miles do you have on your MCS? Any pulley upgrade or is it stock?

If you have at least 60-80K miles and stock pulley for your supercharger you can replace the pulley belt yourself with the help of two tools. One is the belt tensioner tool- several vendors sell them such as Outmotoring.com and you use it to put slack on the belt and then insert a pin with a loop on it or a small ice pick into one of the holes on the pulley tensioner to keep the belt slack.

You can pay for the belt change or do it yourself. It's easier with the passenger wheel off and then remove or partially remove the wheel well liner. You can remove the fasteners starting near the front bumper and peel the liner back if you like or remove all fasteners and completely remove the liner for more space. Once the liner is off you can see much better and reach into the area to wind the belt through the right places along the belt tensioner. After the belt is in the right place then apply the belt tensioner tool and release the ice pick tool that has been applying pressure on the tensioner and the belt will fall into place.

Stock belt can be used with stock pulley or with 15% pulley upgrade. Replace the belt routinely every 2 years. Smaller belts work with 17% to 19% (or 15% pulley and 2% crank pulley). If needed replace the smaller belts once a year or even more often with regular inspections.

Anytime you run more than 15% pulley upgrades you will tend to stress and wear the belt more especially if you track your car or rev high. This can generate more heat and belts have known to fail. You don't want to have your belt fail or shred. Replace it early is always best.

Most of the time your old belt will look OK with only minimal wear even if it is time to replace it. If you see problems with the belt then replace it right away.