Changing your belts in 25 minutes

[IdahoDoug]

Well, ordering another round of belts to do this again. Nice to grab bolts put in place by me in years past with anti sieze. I'll see if I can beat my earlier time. Cheating since the lower shield is off as I cleaned the block to see where a minor oil leak is coming from. I'll adjust by 4 minutes.....heh....

DougM

 

[Kmart]

Guys - this forum is just awesome. I can't begin to tell you how much I have learned in the past nine months that I have owned my cruiser. Anyway, I just used the instructions in this post to replace my belts, and boy am I glad I did.

I am not sure if the picture is clear, but I only had one drive belt, and it was routed incorrectly (over the idler pulley). The one belt was also not OEM, frayed, and probably only moments away from failure. It sounds stupid right now, but I could not figure out why everyone was talking about three belts -- I thought my rig only needed two. Fortunately I ordered OEM belts, and the drive belts came as a set. I then saw the rusted belt channels where the second drive belt should have been.

The good news is that the single belt did not fail, and thanks to the instructions here, I was able to quickly replace the belts and get my cruiser put back together properly. FWIW, it took me about an hour to complete this job, and the 12mm gear wrench was invaluable when it came to the alternator tension bolt.

Thanks all!

BTW, does anyone know how to rotate a picture after uploading?

 

[Dissent]

With all due respect. I don't know if the Toyota model had 40% less crap in the engine bay or what but it took me almost 4 hours to change belts based on these instructions. The belts sit EXACTLY in front of the Alt lock nut which must be made from butter it wants to round so easily. The A/C lock nut is not reachable from top due to the Rad hose and fan blades. Removing the lower cover makes it much easier but still there are hoses and fan housings in the way. I have nothing good to say about ANY angle for the Alt adjustment even using the 12mm GearWrench. I will gladly pay anyone to swap those belts next time. Absolute nightmare.

 

[86tuning]

LX450 is the same as the toyota Landcruiser in the same model year.

Belts aren't that bad if you're prepared for them. Yep those bolts are definitely hard to reach. If you're tossing the old belts a simple shortcut is to snip them to get them off.

 

[Dissent]

I did snip them to get them off, I lucked out on my original tension and was concerned about having to retention them as my 'clicker' gauge came the day after the belt install, but it was in spec!

 

[Dissent]

The bolt should have a torx center, so you can use one of these....



Much easier than fiddling with a wrench behind a pair of tightened belts

What size torx bit is that and who makes it? I've been looking for a longer bit to squeeze past the belts. Went and bought a York compressor and now I've got to deal with these forsaken belts again!

 

[CTLX450]

Just completed this job in 1 hour. Removing the skid plate takes 5 mins and gives you easy access to the AC pulley tensioner and adjuster. I highly recommend doing that so you don't have to climb inside your engine compartment. All else was straightforward, just patience and some WD40. Started it up and no squeal, job successful. Used OEM belts, very cheap at about $26 shipped. Recommend this job to anyone having the familiar belt squeal issues.

 

[dpsurfer]

Thanks for the write up. Was planning on doing these today!

 

[CTLX450]

Thanks for the write up. Was planning on doing these today!

Go for it, 12mm and 14mm sockets and box ends are all you need.

 

[Kaveeks]

On my skid plate there is a hole that allows direct access to the a/c pulley adjuster bold. Just need an extension.

 

[CTLX450]

On my skid plate there is a hole that allows direct access to the a/c pulley adjuster bold. Just need an extension.

Yes, but that is just the a/c pulley adjuster bolt, which is a piece of cake. You then need to loosen the center lock bolt of the pully for which the adjuster controls, which is alot easier from below. Also, when putting on the new belt, it is easier to get it back on the lower pully from below.

Skid plate takes 3 mins to remove, alot more civil then climbing in the engine compartment and 'feeling' your way down the front of the motor. Not to mention the potential shaved knuckes from the fan blades!

 

[Kaveeks]

I did not want to touch my skid plate because of the fact that my engine has been leaking for far too long. That would be a dirty PIA 3 mins.

I just broke the nut free from up top and had no problems with it on from below. I even changed my A/C idler pulley without removing it. Just had to work around it. I don't think it would of been any quicker with it out of the way.

 

[rcpalmer78]

Thank you to the previous mudders about bumping the ignition to pull on a tight new AC belt from Toyota. Struggled for an hour then read that tip - on it went.

 

[TicoCafe]

Great tips here...Thanks!!!
Took about 1hr... did all the work from the top. Left the skid plate intact. I can see how removing the skid plate can make it a little easier to access the A/C pulley.

How tight does the belt need to be...1/4" flex?

 

[Zero1]

Does the bolt for the alternator tensioning bracket (12mm bolt behind idler pulley) need to be loosened to allow the change in tensioner length to allow the alternator to swing? I'd never recalled touching it before on previous 80s but just found on this one its stripped round and while I got the pivot bolt loosened easily and lock bolt loosened and can access the adjustment bolt it's not moving. It would seem that while you tension by adjusting that bolts length that that would still want to cause the bottom bolt I referred to to want to rotate to compensate. But it is stripped utterly smooth by a PO; and if you saw my other post ( https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/how-to-remove-acc-belt-idler.806434/ ) than you'd understand why I can't even get that idler off to get this stripped bolt if it is somehow important in tensioning the belts (I'm sure I'd need it off to remove the alt. outright for brushes or replacement). But I've found no mention of this bolt ever needing to be loosened in the FSM or in posts.

To modify a previously posted picture by another member, here's the bolt I'm talking about

 

[woodsman 44]

Awesome right up Doug and tips from fellow mudsters!

Got a bad sqeaky AC tensioner pulley and diving into it on my day off

 

[woodsman 44]

Ok, its not either idler/tension pulleys so I took off AC belt, still squeal, sounds like its the water pump,,,louder there than the alternator side...

need 'how to' water pump thread now..

 

[BILT4ME]

Since we're reviving old threads.......I found this today searching for the alternator tensioner. I found MORE things that my PO removed from the truck before I got it....

I do NOT have a tensioner pulley.
I do NOT have an alternator adjuster bolt (pry the alternator out after loosening the pivot bolt and re-tighten)
I do NOT have the spark plug loom cover (# 2 and 3 head cover)
Guess that's more stuff I need to track down...

Pictures are worth 1000 words...as long as you're reading the words.

 

[SC97AT]

Done!!! Took way longer than 25 minutes but could not have done it without the directions. I did remove the bottom skid to gain more access. The worst part was the tensioner screw on the alternator. Man that was a tough one to get to with my hands for some reason. But glad to say it is D-O-N-E. Thanks again for the write up.

 

[Bluetribal]

So thanks again to this forum for giving me a false sense of ability! Rounded off the first lock nut on the AC tensioner pully!

Then I could not figure out the next bolt but that was because I had already taken the skid plate off to retrieve my ratcheting socket that fell down onto the skid plate and there was no more 1" hole that you needed an extension for. The damn thing is staring you right in the face.

BTW 40 minutes for this Fail.