Half day belt change 👎🏽 Any workarounds? (1 Viewer)

[tromz]

Wow it took me all afternoon to change the belts. First the ac tensioner was stuck. Got that done. Removed the pulley and cleaned. Painted the cover nut. Awesome. NOT. The alternator tensioner was seized solid. I mean I know I’ve neglected it the past few years but good grief. It’s mad at me. Well I had to take the bracket loose from the block. No biggie. Added some heat. Put in vise. Presto it spins back. Easy breezy. NOPE. I had it all back together. I had the tensioner way out. No dice. The new belts wouldn’t slip over. Took the tensioner n bracket back off so I could see. I spun it all the way out as far as it would line up still. Back together. The new belts still barely slipped over. Now back to a million quarter turns to get it tight. Access from below has a tad more room. I remember hating that job but not the new belts being so short. Removing the whole bracket seems like a good shortcut for disassembly. Anyone else have issues and what might be your work around?

 

[FMC80]

I’m assuming you saw this thread?

Changing your belts in 25 minutes

There have been a few posts lately with folks changing the 3 drive belts and including the unneccessary steps of removing the battery, the battery tray, the lower engine bay skidplate and even the fan (!?). Since I changed my belts today after a fruitless attempt to quiet them down, I thought...

forum.ih8mud.com

It’s a pain in the ass and I think the thread I linked is for someone who is double jointed in every joint. Including their spine and knees

 

[tromz]

I have now. I’ve actually changed them a bunch of times. Never had issues. Kinda posting my process and inquiring if others caught a road block. I’ve always removed the battery and tray for a lot of jobs. Takes like 3 minutes. More room to work. Issue with the tensioner is hard lines in the way to fit an air wrench. And for some reason the new belts were shorter than normal. I do remember hating the job. I always added it into other stuff

 

[BILT4ME]

I have now. I’ve actually changed them a bunch of times. Never had issues. Kinda posting my process and inquiring if others caught a road block. I’ve always removed the battery and tray for a lot of jobs. Takes like 3 minutes. More room to work. Issue with the tensioner is hard lines in the way to fit an air wrench. And for some reason the new belts were shorter than normal. I do remember hating the job. I always added it into other stuff

I'm gonna ask the obvious:
Did you route them properly with the belts on the OUTSIDE of the tensioner?

Did you put anti-seize on the pivot bolt, including the shank, not just the threads?
Did you put anti-seize on all the alternator adjusting bracket bolts and pivot points?

The most important tool for me to R/R the belts is a Craftsman combination open end/closed end ratcheting wrench with the bent offset at the closed end, in 12 mm. I reach down to the tensioner and use the wrench so the bent side is toward the engine and I can reach the tensioning bolt from there. It only ratchets about 1/8 turn at a time, but it works. My wrench is a 12 point and seems to work well.

Tools I use:
1/2" drive breaker bar
1/2" drive ratchet
1/2" drive extension, 6" long x 2
14mm deep well 6-point socket, 1/2" drive

12mm ratcheting combo wrench with bent (not flexible) end.

I forget what the wrench is that is required for the AC belt tensioning pulley.

 

[effjay80]

I'm prepping to replace my leaking power steering pump and lines, the aging alternator with a remanufactured denso, and the NAPA belts with new OEM. It seems logical after studying my FSM and reading the MUD threads that these three jobs should be complementary and best done together. Based on the varying MUD opinions this should be somewhere between a walk in the park set of jobs or an absolute catastrophic death spiral mess.

Any secret hints welcomed!

 

[KC masterpiece]

I will second the open ended pivoting ratcheting wrench. Awesome tool for this job.

I can change my belts in under 30 minutes using one without removing the battery.

 

[Irish Reiver]

It's hard to respond to this thread without it sounding narky or pretentious but the most important thing when changing any of the belts is to remember to slacken off the "lock" bolts. Neither of the adjusters will move much if the lock bolt (altenator) and lock nut (AC Pulley) are still torqued up.

 

[effjay80]

I'm going to also replace (not remove) the Idler Pulleys with new OEM. Any land mines or just nut off, replace, nut on? This my first trip down this learning curve but appears straightforward.

 

[Irish Reiver]

The idler pulley is probably the part with the least amount of purpose on a 80. Remove it and save the coin for something else. It really serves no purpose.

 

[Malleus]

I'm prepping to replace my leaking power steering pump and lines, the aging alternator with a remanufactured denso, and the NAPA belts with new OEM. It seems logical after studying my FSM and reading the MUD threads that these three jobs should be complementary and best done together. Based on the varying MUD opinions this should be somewhere between a walk in the park set of jobs or an absolute catastrophic death spiral mess.

Any secret hints welcomed!

IMHO, cleaning the tensioners (both threads, male and female) and keeping them clean is the key to doing this job quickly. If they won't stay clean, especially the alternator tensioner/lock bolts, you have a leak somewhere that needs attention.

And, just for the sake of trivial interest, the alternator adjustment bolt has a T30/hex head. I have no idea why the Toyota engineers thought adding that feature would be a good idea, since there's not enough room inline with the screw to use a T30 driver bit, but maybe they have a stubby gee whiz tool that can be used with a ratchet.

The most common alternator culprit is the distributor O-ring, which is a piece of cake, with the alternator off. Second in line is the power steering pump and hoses. Both should be looked at when you have the alternator off.

The A/C tensioner suffers from oil cooler/pan leakage.

If you haven't bought a replacement alternator yet, I'd recommend rebuilding it yourself. The kit is dirt cheap and it'll take a good hour, with cleaning. I spent two, but I polished everything. When you're done, you'll have exactly what you would have bought, if you paid for a reman. And, if your alternator is good, but just needs new brushes, you can spend even less money and time.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

Change your belts once a year. This will help keep things from getting seized and after a few years you will have the process down to a 1 hour job. Plus you will have super confidence that your belts won't leave you stranded.

 

[gummycarbs]

Another vote for the reversible ratcheting wrench. The job would be mind-numbing without it. Has to be reversible because of interference if you try to flip it around.

The ratcheting wrench set was also invaluable for removing the Pesky Heater Hose pipe.

Oh, and I use a brass rod to smack lightly(ish) against the starter housing to move it inward. Reminds the starter who's boss at the same time. Placed against a large cast lug, obviously. Don't go punching holes through your starter housing...

 

[tromz]

I'm gonna ask the obvious:
Did you route them properly with the belts on the OUTSIDE of the tensioner?

Did you put anti-seize on the pivot bolt, including the shank, not just the threads?
Did you put anti-seize on all the alternator adjusting bracket bolts and pivot points?

The most important tool for me to R/R the belts is a Craftsman combination open end/closed end ratcheting wrench with the bent offset at the closed end, in 12 mm. I reach down to the tensioner and use the wrench so the bent side is toward the engine and I can reach the tensioning bolt from there. It only ratchets about 1/8 turn at a time, but it works. My wrench is a 12 point and seems to work well.

Tools I use:
1/2" drive breaker bar
1/2" drive ratchet
1/2" drive extension, 6" long x 2
14mm deep well 6-point socket, 1/2" drive

12mm ratcheting combo wrench with bent (not flexible) end.

I forget what the wrench is that is required for the AC belt tensioning pulley.

Yes I’ve always done all of those. I have a stack of ratcheting wrenches. It’s 14 mm on the pulley. Same as tension bolt. It was weird. I’ve never had to run the tensioners all the way out. And yes. Factory belts that little 1/8-1/4 turn the whole way was a pita. There is a tad more clearance from the bottom.

 

[tromz]

I'm prepping to replace my leaking power steering pump and lines, the aging alternator with a remanufactured denso, and the NAPA belts with new OEM. It seems logical after studying my FSM and reading the MUD threads that these three jobs should be complementary and best done together. Based on the varying MUD opinions this should be somewhere between a walk in the park set of jobs or an absolute catastrophic death spiral mess.

Any secret hints welcomed!

Always use the factory belts. The aftermarket “gator“ type belts will be noisy and have puss poor performance.

 

[tromz]

I'm going to also replace (not remove) the Idler Pulleys with new OEM. Any land mines or just nut off, replace, nut on? This my first trip down this learning curve but appears straightforward.

Nut on nut off get new nuts too. I forget what they are called they are like little threaded covers. Unless yours are in good shape. I normally replace things and keep old stuff for trail fixes

 

[tromz]

IMHO, cleaning the tensioners (both threads, male and female) and keeping them clean is the key to doing this job quickly. If they won't stay clean, especially the alternator tensioner/lock bolts, you have a leak somewhere that needs attention.

And, just for the sake of trivial interest, the alternator adjustment bolt has a T30/hex head. I have no idea why the Toyota engineers thought adding that feature would be a good idea, since there's not enough room inline with the screw to use a T30 driver bit, but maybe they have a stubby gee whiz tool that can be used with a ratchet.

The most common alternator culprit is the distributor O-ring, which is a piece of cake, with the alternator off. Second in line is the power steering pump and hoses. Both should be looked at when you have the alternator off.

The A/C tensioner suffers from oil cooler/pan leakage.

If you haven't bought a replacement alternator yet, I'd recommend rebuilding it yourself. The kit is dirt cheap and it'll take a good hour, with cleaning. I spent two, but I polished everything. When you're done, you'll have exactly what you would have bought, if you paid for a reman. And, if your alternator is good, but just needs new brushes, you can spend even less money and time.

Ikr. Well I did use the T30 while it was off the rig with a mini impact to back it all the way out to the end and back a few times. I assume the threads or something had to be off But I had no spare. (Hint). Plenty of coastal rust no leaks. It will be replaced at next belt change

 

[Kernal]

Last year I changed the belts on a 97 FZJ80 but the AC belt would not go
over the AC tensioner pulley no matter what I tried, how loose the tensioner was adjusted, or how hard I pulled down on the belt, just couldn't get it up and over
the pulley into the groove.

I was sure I had the wrong belt because I've done this before without difficulty, but nope, correct part number. As someone mentioned above I then wondered if somehow the new AC belt was manufactured too short??

Either way, my fix was to install the AC belt without the AC tensioner pulley at all, the belt was tight enough for the AC to work. Once the belt loosened up after some driving (getting a short squeak when the AC was engaged first thing in the morning) I went back and installed the AC tensioner pulley. FWIW

 

[rolliges]

I tighten up the tensioner bolt with the T30 on a long extension through the wheel well.

Belts are a bitch; then they slip on.

 

[Malleus]

Ikr. Well I did use the T30 while it was off the rig with a mini impact to back it all the way out to the end and back a few times. I assume the threads or something had to be off But I had no spare. (Hint). Plenty of coastal rust no leaks. It will be replaced at next belt change

Salt air is evil, no doubt.

 

[Malleus]

I tighten up the tensioner bolt with the T30 on a long extension through the wheel well.

Belts are a bitch; then they slip on.

Hmmm. Never thought of that...