dcmodels

DIY – SERPENTINE DRIVE-BELT REPLACEMENT

The thread in the following link also discusses serpentine accessory belt removal, and available auto-tensioner tools: https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-rdx-2007-2012-147/serpentine-belt-change-859724/

CAUTION: use this information at your own risk. Don’t lose a finger, and make certain that the accessory drive-belt is installed correctly, before driving the vehicle.

DEFINITIONS – regardless of how you are standing or facing:
LEFT – driver side of vehicle
RIGHT – passenger side of vehicle
FRONT – front of vehicle
REAR – rear of vehicle

Before using this information, please read through the entire post. Consider printing this post, to make reading easier. There is a lot of info, and you might miss something, unless you read all of it before starting work. Tool pictures can be found online, by searching by tool part number.

HOW TO REMOVE THE SERPENTINE BELT:
In order to remove the accessory drive belt, it is necessary to release the tension of the belt. This is done by pivoting the auto-tension pulley. When the belt tension is released, the belt can be removed from the Alternator pulley. Then remove the belt from the vehicle. Install the new belt in the reverse order.

A specialty tool is placed on the 14mm bolt in the center of the auto-tension pulley. When looking at the face of the pulley, rotate the tool handle clockwise – pull the handle toward the front of the vehicle. A slow steady pull is best – don’t yank. Approximately 30 pounds of force will be required.

The auto-tensioner pulley bolt does not move relative to the pulley. The entire bolt/ pulley moves to release the belt tension.

When installing a new belt, make certain that the belt is properly installed, before starting the engine. Observe that the wear indicator on the tensioner falls within the required range. This will confirm that the belt is the correct length. Avoid mis-positioning the belt by one or more grooves. Each groove on the drive belt rests inside a matching groove in the pulley(s).

BEFORE REMOVING THE BELT:
Moving some items before removing the belt, will make a difficult task easier. Yes, moving a few parts will take time, but it allowed me to remove and replace the belt itself in under 1-minute. But that was after I had already spent almost an hour of frustration, trying to re-install the belt, before I gave up and started moving stuff around. Removing the belt originally was not a problem. Putting it back on was the problem. But do as you choose.

Ψ Move the RADIATOR OVERFLOW TANK to one side – 2 minutes

Ψ Adjust (rotate) the HOSE CLAMP on the Power Steering Tank – 1 minute

Ψ Remove the front bumper SPLASH GUARD – 15 minutes

MOVE THE RADIATOR OVERFLOW TANK:
This will provide necessary space to place your hand, to position the belt removal tool, and to remove the belt from the Alternator pulley. Remove the small hose between the tank and the radiator, from the open-clip.

One plastic clip on the LEFT side of the tank, holds the tank to a bracket on the radiator top. Insert a thin screwdriver blade into the slot around the head of the clip, at one of the molded short lines on the clip-head. Pry the clip top upward, and remove the clip from the tank (and bracket).

Pull straight up on the tank, and slowly rotate the top of the tank rearward. Pull the tank out of the bracket on the RIGHT side of the tank. Keep the tank body parallel to the radiator. Just set the tank to the left side of the engine, without disconnecting the small hose. Keep the tank upright, so that the engine coolant does not spill out.

When replacing the tank, lube the slots in the RIGHT-SIDE bracket with silicone di-electric grease, to prevent wear (on the tank) from vibration. Remember during installation, to begin with the top of the tank rotated rearward, and the tank body parallel to the radiator. This will prevent the LEFT side of the tank from hitting the bracket on the radiator. The RIGHT-SIDE bracket and tank projections, are slanted so that the tank can be installed at an angle.

No force is required to insert the tank projections into the bracket slots. DO NOT USE FORCE. The tank is plastic, and can be easily damaged. Damaged areas will appear as opaque (solid) white – the tank is translucent white.

If the small hose has become twisted, realign it using the lettering along the length and side of the hose. If the hose requires more twisting to realign, TWIST ON THE HOSE-END ON THE TANK, not the hose-end on the radiator. The hose ends may be frozen and sealed to the parts, from heat and age. You do not want to break the hose barb on the radiator. You can easily replace the overflow tank, if necessary – the radiator, not so much.

But don’t worry, if the hose is really stuck on the barbs, it won’t twist in the first place.

ROTATE THE HOSE CLAMP ON THE POWER STEERING TANK OUTPUT HOSE:
The ears on the hose clamp will tear your hand, unless you rotate the clamp so that the ears are vertical – pointing upward. Squeeze the ears together with pliers, and carefully rotate the clamp, then slowly release the pliers.

REMOVE THE FRONT BUMPER SPLASH GUARD:
The open space at the end of the A/C pulley, is not as wide as the accessory drive belt. Removing and re-installing the belt, will require twisting the belt slightly, in order to route the belt around the A/C pulley. There are tools to assist in this effort, from the top of the engine bay, such as the KD3684. However, I did not find that particular tool to be useful.

Instead, I removed the front bumper splash guard, for belt access from below the engine. I suppose that the Acura mechanic is not going to do that, but then, they probably have replaced more than one accessory belt. It tool less time for me to do all of the above, than I wasted trying to replace the belt, before I gave in and removed the splash guard. I will state that I have removed the splash guard 3-4 times before, so I can do it in about 5 minutes.

Turn the front wheels fully to the right, to allow access to the two clips (on the splash guard), inside the right (passenger) side wheel well. I also usually jack up the front of the car, for additional room, and set jack stands, but that is not really necessary. I just have a floor jack, so it only adds another 5 minutes for me.

DANGER: do not go under the car unless jack stands and wheel chocks have been used, if the car has been jacked up.

NOTE: turning the front wheels while the car is stationary, and not jacked up, is very hard on the power steering pump, steering rack, steering linkage joints, and can flat spot the tires.

A simple way to position the front wheels, is to turn them just as you bring the car to a stop, where you plan to work on the car. And, after replacing the accessory belt, start the car, and as you just begin to move the car, turn the front wheels back straight. Turning the wheels/ tires as the car is barely moving, even a couple of inches, does not place much force on the steering parts.

-----------------------------
If you hesitate to remove the front splash guard, there is a complete HOW-TO with pictures, in the following link – scan down about half way in the first post:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=828859

It is not necessary to remove the passenger side wheel well liner, which is also described in the link above.

dcmodels

SERPENTINE BELT TOOLS


The following thread also discusses belt removal and available auto-tensioner tools: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=859724

CAUTION: use this information at your own risk. Don’t lose a finger, and make certain that the accessory drive-belt is installed correctly, before driving the vehicle.

DISCLAIMER: this information is presented for personal use only. I do not endorse any product mentioned here. I have no relationship with any of the companies mentioned below. The data is simply what I have read or learned.

With respect to the tools mentioned here, this is a limited review, not a complete survey of all the available tools. I will indicate which specific tools that I used. I have only expressed my opinion about the suitability of the tools. Feel free to express other opinions, but actual usage comments would be more helpful, to anyone else reading this thread.

TENSIONER TOOL RECOMMENDED by ACURA:
The Acura FSM (factory service manual) recommends using Snap-On YA9317. This tool is no longer available. Snap-On currently provides p/n YA9350B, with a straight handle, with a coarse ratchet to accept multiple sockets and crow-foot wrench attachments. Other Snap-On belt tensioner tools are also available.

LOANER TENSION RELEASE TOOLS:
The loaner tools from the following auto parts stores, did not contain a 14mm socket: AutoZone, O’Reilly, and PepBoys. The tools did contain a 14mm Crow-Foot attachment, but an open end (crow-foot) wrench cannot be properly fit onto the 14mm bolt on the auto-tensioner pulley. The tensioner bolt is recessed below the surface of the tensioner pulley face, so that a crow-foot or open-end 14mm wrench will slip and round the corners of the tensioner bolt.

KD3680 TENSION RELEASE TOOL:
This is the specific tool that I have used. The tool can be purchased from a SEARS store, which had the cheapest price I found. Here are the reasons that I chose this specific tool. See also post #34 in the link at the beginning of this post, for an endorsement of this tool.

The KD3680 tool contains multiple 6-point hex sockets, including 14mm. A 6-point socket is best to prevent rounding bolt corners. A 12-point socket is more prone to round the corners of a hex bolt head, especially at high force/ torque levels.

The KD3580 tool has a special gear drive at the socket attachment point. So, the KD3680 handle can be positioned at 5-degree increments, even when using 6-point sockets.

A 6-point hex socket, with a fixed drive handle, allows only a 60-degree positioning of the tool handle. A 12-point socket allows only a 30-degree positioning of the tool handle. In my opinion, neither socket allows sufficient clearance with a *straight* tool handle, during tension release of the RDX belt. The tensioner pulley 6-point hex bolt is positioned at random, when it is torqued to install the tensioner pulley. An optimal “happy” clearance position of the tool socket, handle, and tensioner pulley attachment bolt, would be only by coincidence.

Also, the KD3680 handle is in two parts, which allows the handle to form an angle. That allows the handle to be positioned optimally to avoid all the *hard-bits” (brackets) surrounding the drive-belt and pulleys.

NEGATIVES: the handle hex has a rubber O-ring, to fit (tightly) inside the socket end of the ratchet. So, what happens when the O-ring breaks? Do you really think you can buy a replacement? Like, where? Well, maybe from a body shop, or plumbing shop. I really don’t like plastic or rubber parts on my tools.

Also, a single piece tool would be easier to use, than this KD two-piece tool. Of course, you must be certain that any alternate tool will actually fit. The KD3680 is the only tool that I could purchase locally, so that I could look at it before purchase, and so that I could return it easily if dissatisfied.

KD3684 BELT POSITIONING TOOL:
I used this tool to position, and thread, the drive-belt around the various pulleys. Well, that was the idea anyway – did not work for me. My hands and arms do not fit down into the space around the pulleys, to allow removal of the old belt, or installation of new belt. So I removed some parts as indicated in the first post of this thread.

Another similar tool is Snap-On SBTL33, with a flexible shaft instead of the rigid shaft of KD3684, and with a LED lighted portion to ensure easy belt routing in dark engine compartments. Certainly the lack of a light on the KD tool was a problem. I really needed three hands.

LINKED COMBI-WRENCHES:
As a testament to the inventiveness of people, an Acurazine member used two combi-wrenches to remove the RDX accessory drive-belt. I tried this, but was not successful. Placing the closed end of a combi-wrench on the recessed auto-tensioner pulley bolt, leaves the handle at an angle to the face of the pulley. So the wrench tried to slip off the bolt head, and the handle(s) hit the brackets of the engine mount and power steering tank.

Do note that in the picture below, that the closed end of the (smaller) 14mm wrench seems to be only at a slight angle (or zero angle) to the handle. The closed-end of my 14mm CRAFTSMAN combi-wrench handle, was at a greater angle, than the wrench in the picture.

DOUBLE-OFFSET CLOSED-END WRENCH and 1/2 INCH DRIVE BREAKER-BAR:
Again, an interesting inventive “solution”. However, I was not able to find an offset wrench 14mm x 15mm. I could only find either a 12mm x 14mm or a 13mm x 15mm wrench. I cannot make out the brand of the tool in the picture below. Also, I doubt that the wrench in the picture would actually fit into the space available on the RDX. The person who posted the original picture, used this setup on an MDX.

ASSENMACHER HON1419 TENSION RELEASE TOOL:
This tool has a fixed 12-point 14mm socket on one end, and a 12-point 19mm socket on the other end. The handle has a bend on each end. I have only seen pictures of this tool.

SCHLEY SCH10950 or SCH68170 TENSION RELEASE TOOL:
I am uncertain which is the correct current part number, as the same online picture is shown for both part numbers. So, I don’t know if the part number has changed, or if there are actually two different tools, with the wrong picture being shown. It would be wise to confirm before purchase.

An Acurazine member liked this tool for removing their RDX belt, as indicated in post 31 in the link at the beginning of this post.

This tool has a fixed 6-point 19mm socket on one end. The other end of the tool, appears to be a *short* length 12-point 14mm socket. The handle is bent into three straight-sections. I have only seen pictures of this tool.

Based only on the poor quality pictures, I wonder if the shallow 14mm socket can fully engage the auto-tensioner pulley recessed bolt-head, to prevent either slipping or rounding of the bolt head. Furthermore, I don’t like 12-point sockets, both because they tend to round the corners of bolt heads, and because they are more limited in positioning the handle, than a ratchet with a 6-point socket.
================================

Well, actually, all of the pictures shown here were ‘stolen’ from various web pages. I just added labels – and with apologies to anyone offended by my posting them here.

dcmodels

SERPENTINE BELT WEAR

DISCLAIMER: this information is presented for personal use only. I do not endorse any product mentioned here. I have no relationship with any of the companies mentioned below. The data is simply what I have read or learned.

CHECK for STRETCH of the RDX ACCESSORY DRIVE BELT:
The auto-tensioner has a marking which determines when excessive stretch has occurred. Once the belt has stretched beyond the acceptable limit, range B in the picture, it should be replaced. See the picture below.

CHECK for WEAR of the RDX ACCESSORY DRIVE BELT:
Just one point – there is no way to tell when an EPDM belt requires replacement, just by looking, unless there is obvious damage. Either use the GATES wear tool, or replace the belt based on mileage/ time. Yes, even an EPDM belt will wear, degrade, and break if it is old enough, even at low miles.

A neoprene belt has a life of about 50-60,000 miles. The belt on my 98 Chevy is rated for 60K miles or 5-years – so I assume it’s a neoprene belt. The belt may last longer, but that would depend upon the operating conditions, i.e., the weather and ambient temperatures.

But I think that the RDX belt is made of EPDM, which has a longer life than neoprene. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine the material of a belt, by simply looking. Basically, any car model made after 2000 will use an EPDM type belt.

The best practice is to begin checking belts at 50,000 miles to ensure that the belt rib is uncompromised and is not showing wear. Remember, as little as 5% rib material loss can create issues. Use the Gates BELT-CHECKER to check for wear to ribs. The GATES belt wear tool is intended for EPDM belts, and does not work well on Neoprene belts. The best place to check for wear on an RDX belt, is between the Alternator and Power Steering pump pulleys. If the radiator overflow tank is moved to one side, the GATES tool can be easily placed on the belt. See the picture of the tool below.

The wear tool measures the wear of the belt ribs. You can order a free tool from GATES online, from one of the following links. I got my wear-tool from a NAPA parts store.
http://www.gates.com/index.cfm?location_id=540 belt product information page
http://www.gatesprograms.com/beltwear/beltwear belt wear diagnosis: neoprene vs. EPDM
http://www.gatesprograms.com/beltwear/techTips EPDM belt wear diagnosis

There is no point in my posting information, which is already available online, and much better than any I could provide. Just read the links above. Lots of nice pictures.

DIAGNOSIS OF BELT NOISES:
Multiple-ribbed type drive belts wear evenly with their pulleys. Unusual wear indicates a correction is needed. The following are symptomatic noises of the drive belt system. If none of the following checks indicates a problem, then the belt itself must be replaced.

V-ribbed belt noise diagnosis
http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=1026&location_id=540


CHIRPING
The following items are indicators of chirping:

Ψ A high pitched nose that is usually heard once per revolution of a pulley or a belt

Ψ It is most common on cold, damp mornings

Ψ Verify this condition by squirting water onto the belt. The noise will momentarily stop.

Check for misaligned pulleys, bent or cracked accessory brackets, loose or missing fasteners, or severe pilling exceeding 1/3 the belt groove depth.

SQUEAL
The following items are indications of squeal:

Ψ A loud screeching noise that is caused by a slipping belt (this is unusual for a belt with multiple ribs)

Ψ The noise occurs when a heavy load is applied to the belt, such as an air conditioning compressor engagement, snapping the throttle, or slipping on a seized pulley.

Check for a misaligned pulley, incorrect belt length (check wear indicator) causing low belt tension, malfunctioning drive belt tensioner, correct pulley size, or seized/ rough/ worn bearings (check each pulley).

WHINE
A high pitched continuous noise that may be caused by a failed bearing. Check for a worn accessory component bearing, by removing the belt, and checking each accessory pulley in turn. Check each pulley for end-play, wobble, smooth rotation and lack of noise, etc.

CYCLE RUMBLING
A low frequency noise heard once per revolution of the drive belt. Check for severe pilling. Clean the drive belt pulleys. The following items are indications of pilling:

Ψ The random accumulation of rubber dust in the bottom of the multi-ribbed belt grooves

Ψ A small amount of pilling is normal

Ψ Operation of the drive belt system will not be effected unless the buildup exceeds one third (1/3) of the belt groove depth

CHECK for AUTO-TENSIONER WEAR:
There are some simple checks that can be made, by removing the belt.

AUTO-TENSIONER PULLEY:
The pulley should rotate smoothly, without any rough feel or noise. You should be able to spin the pulley by hand, and it should spin freely for some time, before stopping. It should stop slowly and smoothly, not suddenly, nor move jerkily.

ARM VIBRATION/ MOVEMENT:
While the engine is running, with the air conditioning on, check the TENSIONER ARM for excessive vibration. If the tensioner arm vibration can be seen with the naked eye, a new tensioner is needed. Well, that is what the Gates web site says. However, a small amount of visible vibration is normal, and you should check this when your vehicle is new, as a future reference.

And this is what my 98 Chevy FSM says: when the engine is operating the drive belt tensioner arm will move. Do not replace the drive belt tensioner because of movement in the drive belt tensioner arm.

BINDING:
Allowing the drive belt tensioner to snap into the free position may result in damage to the tensioner. Remove the drive belt. Position a belt tension release tool on the auto-tensioner pulley bolt, and rotate the arm through its full travel.

Ψ The movement should feel smooth

Ψ There should be no binding

Ψ The tensioner should return freely

If any binding is observed, replace the tensioner.

SPRING STRENGTH:
A weak tension spring will not properly tension the drive belt, allowing it to slip. This can cause noise, improper operation of accessories such as the alternator, and excessive heat buildup in the pulley bearings. Also, the belt can fail (break).

The tensioner spring can be checked, but only by removing the tensioner from the vehicle – at least, it’s the only way that I know of. Lock the tensioner and arm assembly, by two bolts, into a large vise. Then use a torque wrench to move the arm until the wear pointer is centered in the belt wear range. The torque wrench reading should be 30 ft-lbs or more. If less, the tensioner spring is worn, and the tensioner must be replaced.

ADDITIONAL PROBLEMS:
Keep in mind that a problem may be caused by a worn/ bad bearing in an accessory component, such as the alternator, or a bad bearing in the pulley itself. Each of these must also be checked.

DRIVE BELT VIBRATION
Check for loose or missing fasteners, or bent or cracked accessory brackets.

DRIVEBELTFALLS OFF
Check for a misaligned or a bent pulley. There are special Laser tools available for checking alignment. Also check for loose or missing fasteners (again), damaged drive belt, malfunctioning drive belt tensioner, etc.

EXCESSIVE WEAR IN EITHER OUTSIDE GROOVE OF DRIVE BELT
Check to see if the ribs in the drive belt do not match the grooves in the pulleys, or for a misaligned pulley.

737 Jock

Nice job.

At 127k miles the original belt still runs quietly. But, I can hear some grinding in the pulley, when listening through a stethiscope. I'm going to measure the new belt valley vs the original belt valley, using calipers.

I have the 3680, a new belt and pulley waiting on standby.

wifesRDXtech

I bought the schley tool works perfect, able to change my tensioner and put on new belt myself with this tool, I highly recommend it, will loan it out if any one wants to borrow it for small loan fee and security deposit.

dcmodels

The tensioner pulley? so just the pulley and not the entire assembly? Based on the FSM description, it does not seem easy (to me) to remove the pulley bolt from the tensioner assembly.

I assume that you understand to measure the width of the belt valley, and not just the depth. That is the purpose of the Gates wear gauge.

Its the belt ribs bottoming in the valleys of the pulleys which cause the problems, not allowing water and dirt to *flush* from between the belt and pulley.

Very nice picture here:
http://www.gatesprograms.com/beltwear/inspection

And I have never used a Gates serpentine belt. Did you purchase an OEM belt, or other?

737 Jock

Perhaps the assembly, if the tensioner doesn't check out. The manual seems to show an unattached nut on the back side of the pulley bolt, that may need to be held, although it advises to remove the pulley with the assembly on the car. It doesn't indicate to hold the nut though.

Yep, I've been reading the Gates pages you linked. Going to compare the valley width between the new and old belts. Perhaps you could post the width and depth of the Gates gauge in thousandths or mm?

Bought a Dayco EPDM belt and pulley. Dayco indicates that the new valleys have a sharp V shape, which wears over time into a U shape.

SinCity

Awesome write-up!

dcmodels

Yes, that I what I read, and I am also puzzled - so when you do the job, please post - I am only at 40K miles. Also, I cannot think of a way to check the spring tension, with the tensioner on the car, short of making a special tool.

Sure - May be a few days before my micrometer and gauge are in the same place, at the same time.

Yes, Gates also indicates a new belt valley has a sharp V-bottom, to prevent it from bottoming on the pulley ribs and slipping.

I just came from the Chevy place, where I used my Gates wear gauge on both an GM OEM belt - which seems to be made of neoprene, and a Gates belt (for a GTO) - which states its made of EPDM. The Gates wear gauge measured the same on both new belts. The gauge measured (slightly) more wear on both of those new Chevy belts, than on my old Acura 40K miles belt. Yes, according to the gauge, I have lots of life left on my OEM Acura belt.

But as you will see when I post the size of the gauge, the difference between *good* and *bad* reading is not much. The plastic gauge is basically a 2-inch stick with a rectangular cross-section. The idea seems to me, to measure how much a belt valley has increased in width, by indicating how deep the stick sinks into a belt valley, when held parallel (length-wise) to a valley. Sorry if that is confusing, but will be more clear when I post the dimensions of the tool.

I had measured the old belt on my Chevy yesterday, and the gauge says the belt is worn out. I did not really think it was that old, but perhaps I am not remembering when I actually bought it. So maybe that is why it was sometimes a little noisy last winter, whenever it snowed.

dcmodels

OK, this will probably make things more clear. This is what the cross-section of the Gates Belt Wear Tool actually looks like, after I got out my magnifying glass. And I will post the actual dimensions later.

Yes, the tool bottom is actually slightly rounded. And the way that the tool is shown fitting into the belt valley, is how a pulley rib is going to fit into the belt valley. And that should tell you why a worn belt is a problem.

737 Jock

Thanks.

Your chart shows that the top of the rib narrows as well as the valley widening, as it wears.

I took a good look at my new belt. The measure across the top of each rib is 1.75 mm. That is easily enough measured with calipers.

The top of the valleys measure 1.5 mm. The V shape makes it difficult to measure the width of the valley (in the wear area) with calipers, because of course, it varies with depth.

However, if one inverts the belt and eyeballs it, the V's are nice and sharp. I suspect that when I invert and eyeball my 127k belt, it's going to be obvious U's and the rib tops will measure smaller and the valley tops wider.

Well, the manual says to watch the range pointer with the engine idling and the AC on. The manual is fuzzy about allowed movement, but Gates or Dayco said visible movement is too much. Mine moves about >1 mm either side of center.

Also, use the 3680 to slip the belt off and exercise the tensioner. It should move smoothly with no abnormal noise.

dcmodels

Here is the size of two different Gates Belt Wear Gauges. The two larger sizes are from one gauge, and the two smaller sizes are from the other gauge. One gauge I got from a NAPA store, and about 1-year later got the other from the Gates web site (because I had misplaced the first gauge - found it when I went to measure per your request).

Both gauges, while only injection molded plastic, are very close in size. Measured several places along the 2-inch length of each gauge, size difference on the same gauge less than 0.001 inch over the 2-inch length

I hope it is obvious that trying to compare the gauge size against the actual belt ribs/ valleys, by measuring, is not practical, because the belt rib/ valley is V-shaped

Remember when using the gauge, to measure all of the ribs, across the belt in one place, because if there is a difference then probably one of the pulleys is mis-aligned, causing the uneven wear of the belt.

dcmodels

EXAMPLES OF DAMAGED BELTS:

These were collected (stolen) from various other threads. Very informative of the type of problems that can happen to a belt. And I hope that the persons from whom I borrowed these, will not mind.

737 Jock

Thanks for posting those dimensions.

It looks like the difference between a new valley top and a worn valley top is about 0.12mm and the worn depth would be about a 0.10mm increase.

Of course, the plainest evidence of wear would be the U shape.

I'll see about picking up a Gates wear tool.

dcmodels

And until I did the 'research' for this thread, it was not clear to me just how easy it is to determine when the belt is worn - maybe not yet requiring replacement, but definitely worn.

Always before I was just replacing my belts on mileage or years. But based on what I have now observed on my own belts, slow city driving, lots of idling, lots of short trips (and engine restarts), all of these types of service definitely shorten the life of the belt, beyond simply miles on the engine.

And I now feel better able to determine when the belt should be replaced, which for the Neoprene belts on my Chevy, is a much shorter time than I had anticipated. That vehicle specifically sees only short trips, extreme ambient temps (winter/ summer), city only driving, etc.

SinCity

I ended up having the dealer replace it. They charged $69.25 for the belt and labor.

Tomtwtwtw

Great thread, I always wondered why my Cobalt manual said to simply inspect the serpent belt for wear at 150k miles and never before. I was also used to 50-60k replacement intervals from previous vehicles. Also good to know that the replacement isn't very difficult. Many transverse engines have very little room to do a belt change. Spark plug change on a front-drive V6 is also a blast.

RangeRider49er

Does anyone know the actual belt tension that should be read using a belt tension gauge? I found this belt tension gauge which is relatively inexpensive made by Gates: Belt Tension Gauge
It is called a Krikit gauge due to the sound it makes! I also found the auto tensioner and belt kit at NAPA here:http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Re...0001%2b2001034
It costs $95 online. I also found the KD 3860 tension release tool for $57 at NAPA which price matched the Amazon.com price: http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Ca...680_0405868191
I hope this helps those contemplating this job as I am. Our RDX started making what I think is a drive belt noise so I am getting ready for the job now.

wusty23jd

I ran across this video and thought I would share. The individual in this video is replacing the alternator on a 2007 Acura RDX, but the video provides a good visual demonstration of how to remove the auto-tension pulley and eventually the belt itself.

ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3SDKPN8rwQ

CSmoney28

Tomtwtwtw

I ended up just having the shop do my belt replacement at 150k. For parts and labor it was under $100.

CS - copy that link but add the "H" in front. Looks like it was left out by mistake when he pasted it into his post.

CSmoney28

prfixer

I bought this to do the A/C clutch on my 08 RDX after fighting the tensioner when I did the belt at its first replacement. It is one of the ones mentioned above in an earlier post. OMG, it works so well I may change the belt every year just for the fun of it!

CSmoney28

I still have the stock belt only 148,000 miles on it

wusty23jd

You might want to consider changing that bad boy.

CSmoney28

It should be changed but acura told me it’s still in working condition as of recently.

Johnny Dang

Nice and detailed write up OP. Thanks.

Just changed my belt on my 2009. Bought it used just turned 100K miles. $13 Bando from RockAuto.

Great tip to remove the overflow coolant bottle and re-position the PS hose clamp.
I didn't need any special tool. Just doubled up two box wrenches for the tensioner.
Maniupulated belt up and out the top.

Don't know if I'm missing some lower splash shields or something since it's a used vehicle. I removed nothing from below, was able to route the belt to the rear most pully by hand under the car. Didn't even have to jack it up or turn the wheel. Plenty of clearance. The rest was a piece of cake.

CSmoney28

Thanks for the updates info!

hhrdx08

Thanks to OP and all other helpful tips. I just did the belt and tensioner pulley replacement today. Actual work took 30 minutes with majority time spent on installing the belt without the help of extra hands. Car had a growling noise in the belt area last week upon a cold start in the morning. The noise did not come back after that day However I noticed the belt indicator on the tensioner base is very close to out of range. I decided to replace the belt even the car has only about 150,000km. Used Bando belt p/n 7PK1732 and Honda pulley p/n 31180-RAA-A01.

CSmoney28

Just found a hole in my belt not bad lasted 147,000 miles not bad Acura

shandias

Original belt lasted 147,000 Miles? that's awesome.

Tomtwtwtw

Sounds about right. I replaced mine around 150k miles as well. My brother, who is notoriously bad at maintaining cars, had his snap on him at somewhere north of 200k miles. EPDM belts last 2-3 times longer than the old neoprene ones, if not more.

shandias

thats unreal. Mine has onlu 140,000 KMs on it 89,000 miles i was going to change mine. looks like mine has lots more life left .

Tomtwtwtw

So if you're used to looking at older neoprene belts that dry out and show cracks, you won't see them here. These belts wear more like tires - the tops of the grooves will wear flat, but it can be hard to tell if it's replacement time just by looking. You can get a belt gauge pretty cheap that just dips into a groove, and of the gauge is over the top of the groove then the belt should be replaced. Here's what a worn belt would look like.

feralcomprehension

Wow. I do find that with Honda parts tbh; I sold my CRV at 135k miles and it had the original dampers on it. My civic starter was still fully functional when I had it rebuilt at 150k mi.

CSmoney28

Yeah pretty awesome I will be posting pictures in my thread. I went with a Gates Tension Pulley and Gates Serpentine Belt. Both are made in America and I only paid $117.