i just found out my alternator belt is cracking n needs to be replaced. i want run some wires for my subwoofer n i was wondering if i should wait until i get the belt fixed. is it hard to change this belt if u have neva done this type of work before.

 

You should ALWAYS keep your car running before adding cosmetics.

I know a sub isn't really cosmetic, but you know what I mean.

 

Change it, NAO. Like seriously, unless you want to run on battery power, which in that case be my guest.

 

i wanna kno if i can still install my amp n sub i kno i gotta change the belt i cant do it right now. i got all i need for my system to get installed but i want to kno if this would effect the belt

 

It won't affect the belt I wouldn't think, but if the belt is failing already, you may have a problem recharging the battery and the setup would only drain it faster

 

A cracked belt isn't going to effect anything UNLESS it breaks. Your stereo stuff isn't going to put any extra strain on the belt to make it fail faster if that is what you are asking.

But it will brake sooner or later if left as is. You can change it yourself with a Chilton's and a good set of wrenches and sockets. But it's a real tight fit doing it. I scraped up the inside of my arm on some plastic cover thing when I did mine. If you are going to go through all that you should put on a new power steering belt while you are in there.

 

Im not stickin my arm in there. I'll take it to the shop this weekend i got an estimate for $113.00 thats not to bad

 

Damn, $113?

Personally I would just pay the ~$20 for a belt, and spend 15 minutes putting it on.

 

no wonder mechanics make a lot of money lol

 

I don't get it? What is so hard about replacing the alternator belt. Even if you don't know what you're doing it shouldn't take half an hour to do it. The power steering belt is more difficult but you can do that one also.

Replace the belt yourself.

 

I dont kno how to do it, if i did i would. This seems to important for me to do myself I'll stick to wut i can do.

 

It's an extremely simple procedure.

 

yea i saaw. what happens is one of the pulleys moves down(loosen). u remove old belt then slide on new belt. then u move the pulley back up (tighten)

Juan

 

Maybe so, but when you observe a rusted bolt and the location of that bolt...makes me wanna stay as far away from it as I can & let a shop handle it. I hate rust!

 

I still don't get it! This is so simple. I could talk my neighbors 11 year old twins through the process. My sixteen year old niece might be able to do it with a 45 second tutorial.

The only way you ever learn how to do something is to try. What if you never TRIED to learn how to walk when you were a baby, tried to learn how to drive, write, read or replace a speaker in a car? If you can do any kind of work on a car, aside from checking and or replacing fluids, this is it.

You never get anywhere until you try and you lose so much more when you don't.

If you can loosen two (2) bolts and those in question here are easily accessible you can replace the belt in twenty minutes if you've never done it before.

And whoever is afraid of rust, have you heard of WD-40, 3 in 1 oil, liquid wrench, mystery oil and etc.? Surface rust please.....

 

I had a friend who was afraid to put air in his tires, he was afraid they would blow on him. He only adds gas to his car. Some people are just destined to be bent over by mechanics, just don't let it be you or your immediate family.

 

I recall the bolt being in a bad spot because there wasn't much space to put a socket on. Off-axis torque on the socket = stripped head. Add rust to that equation and your destined for doom.

Rust:
1) swaybar end links = a 2 month nightmare due to rust, stripped nuts/bolts
2) splash shield bolts = broken due to frailness from rust
3) EVAP canister = one bolt broken due to frailness from rust

Maybe you know what to do when a bolt breaks and the body of the bolt is stuck in the hole, but I don't. And I always use PB. Some bolts will just break!

My problem is that the way stuff should come off sometimes leads to having to find alternate methods. Alternate methods = wasted time & wasted money if you lack experience.

I'm all for trying stuff for the first time...heck I did a crapload of stuff this past weekend for the first time. But you still gotta weigh your options - and the big questions I usually ask myself are...1) how easy can this job go bad, and 2) if I mess this up, what are the consequences? To me the answer to #1 is 'pretty easily', and #2 is 'very bad'. The level of difficulty isn't even factored in. This is not to say that I won't ever try, I'm just more likely to let a shop handle it.

 

Your point is well taken. But, what this project entails though is only the loosening of two (2) nuts which are both easily accessible and from my experience are not easily broken. Several times I've had, as well as many others, both belts off, AC and power steering (the AC belt is very easy to replace whereas the power steering belt does have degree of difficulty) of a car that has spent its whole existence in Michigan and Pennsylvania - two members of the rust belt.

Now if you can't get a ratchet and socket into a tight space what do you do? You try another tool. Maybe a twelve or preferably a six point wrench will work. I will tell you that it does quite easily as many other people would tell you.

I'm not trying to get people to do things that are difficult or beyond their capability. I'm recommending that you just think the process through and if you have questions, get some advice from someone who has experience. Because in this case hundreds if not thousands have successfully done this repair themselves without making an appointment with the repair shop, driving to the repair shop, waiting at the repair shop for them to start the repair, waiting to complete the repair and worst of all spending at least a couple of hours and over a hundred dollars for a twenty minute repair that shouldn't cost more than a belt and maybe a new wrench that you get to keep and use again and again and again.

 

Maybe that's the problem...I was talking about both belts...guess I should've read the thread more closely. And really I'm more worried about my PS belt needing replacement than my AC belt. I've only taken one look at how the replacement would go, it probably deserves a second inspection.

I've driven without belts before (snapped & the awful smell of burning rubber), battery/alt light came on & of course steering was hard as heck...something I do not wanna ever have to go through again!

This week I plan to do: struts, shocks, rear rotors/pads/speedbleeders/fluid flush, spark plugs. I've already got the belts....all things I've never done before. Maybe I'll grow some courage and get at those belts.