Great directions...bear with me...new at this...will this procedure work with a 1992 Land Cruiser? Thanks & sorry if this is a silly question, Pat...
Changing your belts in 25 minutes
- Thread starter IdahoDoug
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Question, within a year i had to replace my belts twice as they were shredded, the 2 times i bought the belts at autozone the mechanics told me they were too small as they fit very tight, they were able to install them, but i guess they were to tight and that is how they tore apart.
So here is my question, the last mechanic told me the tension pulley IP under the alternator was not
not needed, he took it out and the belts fitted perfectly, i have no noise the belts runs smooth no stress, so my question is:
is this tension pulley a must (needed)?
is it bad if it is not part of this belt?
Thanks,
So here is my question, the last mechanic told me the tension pulley IP under the alternator was not
not needed, he took it out and the belts fitted perfectly, i have no noise the belts runs smooth no stress, so my question is:
is this tension pulley a must (needed)?
is it bad if it is not part of this belt?
Thanks,
ppc
M Go Blue
More than likely the belts were routed to the left side of "IP" which is a common mistake by mechanics not familiar with the 1FZ-FE. Best option is to use OEM Toyota belts as they are a match set and may be cheaper than Autozone belts. The idler pulley may be deleted but a properly routed set of belts makes it unnecessary in my view.
I've owned my Cruiser for 8 years and I always come back to this thread when it's belt time.
So what's your best time??
Over 25 minutes. 
. I'm sitting here listening to it idle quietly.
. I'm sitting here listening to it idle quietly.
FAIL on step 1 ... can't anything ever be easy?!?!? The AC pulley lock bolt is rounded off. Even used a 14mm wrench. Might need to get a 6 sided wrench and try again, just super frustrating to constantly battle stupid things.
For once, everything went right for me! No broken bolts. No rounded heads. Even the seized, rusty AC adjuster pulley came off with only a couple swears and hammer blows. Alternator replacement went smoothly, too. Turns out I'm missing the adjuster bolt thingy for it though. Took two of us to wrestle enough tension into the belts and bolt it down. And it really IS quiet with the new belts. 
to everyone who's posted here.
to everyone who's posted here.NLXTACY
Wits' End
Just did this three weeks ago:
* remove lower plate
* cut off both alt belts and AC belt
* loosen alt bolts
* drive in alt adjuster
* route new belts around the fan’s blades one by One until the whole belt is behind the fan
* route belts around water pump and crank first then alt last
* drive out the adjuster
* use belt gauge to set correct tension
* lock down alt
* replace AC’s idler pulley if needed or else just unlock bolt and drive adjuster in
* run new AC belt
* drive adjuster out and set tension with gauge
* lock idler bolt
* put plate back on
I didn’t time myself because I didn’t realize that since I had the Photoman alt mod that one of the bolts was 13mm. I don’t exactly keep 13mm handy. But if I had to guess I think it wasn’t too far from half and hour.
* remove lower plate
* cut off both alt belts and AC belt
* loosen alt bolts
* drive in alt adjuster
* route new belts around the fan’s blades one by One until the whole belt is behind the fan
* route belts around water pump and crank first then alt last
* drive out the adjuster
* use belt gauge to set correct tension
* lock down alt
* replace AC’s idler pulley if needed or else just unlock bolt and drive adjuster in
* run new AC belt
* drive adjuster out and set tension with gauge
* lock idler bolt
* put plate back on
I didn’t time myself because I didn’t realize that since I had the Photoman alt mod that one of the bolts was 13mm. I don’t exactly keep 13mm handy. But if I had to guess I think it wasn’t too far from half and hour.
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Driving down the road at about 50mph I start to hear to hear a weird rattle, thought it was the diesel in front of me. I slowed down to listen better and thought my clamshell around the steering was rattling, it's in glued together pieces and sometimes it rattles. I pull into a gas station and hear a slapping noise coinciding with tire rotation. I slide under and see a broken belt. One of the Alternator belts. Okay no problem, I'll put on new belts when I get home. So on the way home I'm getting all kinds of racket from the front. I couldn't begin to guess at what was causing this noise. I swap all the belts and start it up, no noise, sounds great. Drive down the road and the same noise starts up again. I remove the IP on the Alternator and still there. I have no ideas. Maybe the broken belt hit something, but I can't find anything. Its not consistent either. Sometimes it will go for a full 30 second, and then I won't hear it for 20 min. then back again full bore. It sounds like it's right under the dash.
What did you do on this? Mine is rounded out as well
Cut the belt off and running no AC for the winter. Will deal with it when I pull the radiator for more clearance. If I needed it done right away I would have bought a small impact to tray and loosen it. Good Luck.
I noticed after quite the build-up, he edited right past that part. He muttered something about a cheater bar and his assistant. A 25' long cheater bar I suspect, and a tame silverback. Would have been good to see. TexasKnowHow has some good videos and shouts out to ih8mud frequently.
Crack a window open. Also, I think this may be less of a problem with the truck being inside overnight. It doesn't seem to fog up much at all.
New AC compressor is in, just need to find time to install and get charged.
New AC compressor is in, just need to find time to install and get charged.
I replaced my AC belt today. The old one was shredded and wrapped around my fan.
The AC belt didn't take long at all. I'll list out my steps so hopefully it helps someone or clarifies a question for someone.
Warning! This is how I did it, not necessarily the correct way to do it.
1. Remove the small plate above the steering damper, it's held on by 4x 12mm bolts. It comes out by rotating the drivers side forward once all the bolts are out.
2. Loosen the bolt circled in green in the picture. It should be 14mm. I didn't remove this, just loosened it.
3. Loosen the bolt circled in red. The more you loosen it, the closer the pulley gets in between the AC and Crank Pulley. This makes it much easier to install the new belt without struggling. My adjustable pulley didn't want to move so I smacked the bolt a little bit and it moved fine after that.
4. Remove old belt (if you still have one)
5. Put new belt in place. I looped it around the 2 bigger pulleys from above and then got it around the smaller one from below.
6. Retighten the bolt in red until the tension is correct (whatever that may be) I just went until it was tight but didn't seem stretched.
7. Tighten the bolt in green.
8. Test your work.
9. Reinstall the plate, it should go in reverse of the way it came out.
The AC belt didn't take long at all. I'll list out my steps so hopefully it helps someone or clarifies a question for someone.
Warning! This is how I did it, not necessarily the correct way to do it.
1. Remove the small plate above the steering damper, it's held on by 4x 12mm bolts. It comes out by rotating the drivers side forward once all the bolts are out.
2. Loosen the bolt circled in green in the picture. It should be 14mm. I didn't remove this, just loosened it.
3. Loosen the bolt circled in red. The more you loosen it, the closer the pulley gets in between the AC and Crank Pulley. This makes it much easier to install the new belt without struggling. My adjustable pulley didn't want to move so I smacked the bolt a little bit and it moved fine after that.
4. Remove old belt (if you still have one)
5. Put new belt in place. I looped it around the 2 bigger pulleys from above and then got it around the smaller one from below.
6. Retighten the bolt in red until the tension is correct (whatever that may be) I just went until it was tight but didn't seem stretched.
7. Tighten the bolt in green.
8. Test your work.
9. Reinstall the plate, it should go in reverse of the way it came out.
Replaced the twin belts, the old one was routed wrong and using a non-OE belt. Unfortunately it wasn't 25 minutes for me, more like a 2-part install for a longish 4hours, or felt like that. I was dealing with the alternator tensioner bolt that was not turning nice. Part 1, i was too tired trying to turn that freaking tensioner bolt and thought i had the belts good and tight enough. Next day, the belt squealed which simply means i have to redo it again. This time around, i realized i was losing the battle, so i ended up taking battery tray, taking out the whole tensioner assembly, cleaned up the threads and gave it some good dosage of anti-seize. Wow, 1000% better.
The good thing is that the next one will be for sure 25 minute job!
The good thing is that the next one will be for sure 25 minute job!
93yotasr5
Come and take it
finished mine in about 25 minutes including changing the upper radiator hose. Even managed to get the markings to line up together.
I'd be interested to know if they stay lined up. I'd guess that even a VERY small difference in seating depth in the pulleys due to slight variations will add up after several thousand (or million) revolutions.
