I need to replace the middle belt...see the pic.

Anybody has done this? Any DIY?

How is this rated as DIY from 1~10, 10 being the hardest....



Thanks in advance guys....

 

is that tube in the picture cutting into the belt all the way on the left?

 

Nope...just an illusion...

I believe the belt I want changed is the AC compressor belt as shown in the manual. It is the 2nd belt to be removed. 1st is alternator belt. 2nd the AC and 3rd the Power steering.

What belt is used for the starter?

I also found the specs for the tension of the belts when they are re-installed.

 

i assume you would just remove the alt belt then remove that one. and the starter doesnt have a belt.

 

Thanks! I guess that's it. Need to shop for a belt. I will do a DIY when I get to it.

 

Found a place on ebay where the 3 belts (OEM Honda) were being sold for $40 shipped! Straight from an Acura dealer! Awesome! I might as well replace alll of them since I have to remove 2 to get to the AC belt which was frayed. I have checked around BM stores, they are $15 to $20 per pc.!

I will do a DIY when I get the belts.

 

$45 for the 3.2TL, $40 for the 2.5TL!

 

It is going to be very tough to maneuver in there with the radiator. I recommend removing the radiator to do this because it will make things a lot easier.

I believe the alternator belt is connected to the starter.

If you don't remove the radiator then I would say it is an 8, but if you do then it is a 3 or 4.

 

Wow, that bad? Nothing's mentioned on the service manual. Somebody confirmed no starter connected.

The power steering will be hard, they just said to take off the Air Cleaner housing.

We will see....

 

If you remove the radiator then you will need two gallons of coolant/antifreeze.

 

Mandy, how did you make out changing the belts? I just bought the 3 belts, radiator hoses and a fuel filter from Rock Auto and plan to change all of it when it gets warmer out. Since I plan to drain the radiator anyway, I may remove the radiator first as suggested. I may not have to I suppose?

 

Dammit, I meant "cooler out". It's about 112f today.

 

you don't need to remove the radiator. You should be able to reach it. remove the air box and hosing. start with the alternator. loosen the 14mm bolt at the bottom of the alternator, then loosen the 12mm bolt at the top of the alternator. take a 6mm socket and loosen the adjusting rod on the alternator. It's straightforward and its right on top of the alternator. remove the belt once there is enough slack. next is the a/c belt. loosen the 14mm nut in the center of the a/c tensioner pulley. loosen the 10mm adjusting bolt that tensions the pulley until the pulley is about to fall off. remove the belt. next is the powersteering belt, it's almost like the alternator belt. start by loosening the 14mm bolt at the bottom of the ps pump. then loosen the 12mm nut at the top of the pump. next, at the left of the pump, you will see a 10mm bolthead that is especially long. loosen that all the way and make sure the bolt doesnt fall out of the nut if you don't know how to put it back together. once loose, remove the ps belt. installation is reverse.

Note: when tensioning the ps belt, adjust it looser then you want it to be. This is because when you tighten the ps pump down, it will actually make the belt quite a bit tighter than it was originally adjusted before the pump is tightened down.

hope this helps. the infos kinda jumbo'ed together but if you do exactly as it says and find the correct bolts, it's straight forward. you'd crap yourself if you saw how fast I take it all apart.

 

Sounds pretty straight forward. Thanks for the info.

 

My pants aren't soiled except from dirt. I changed the two hoses and Rock Auto was nice enough to send me the wrong lower one. Acura had the exact one I needed. Apples and oranges. I had to remove the lower plastic piece of crap to get at the lower hose connection.
Next for the simple job of changing the belts. After removing the air box and hose, I tried to find the 14mm bolt. It appears to be right under the belt and I can't get any tool on it. Any valid suggestions would be appreciated. If it's the bolt I think it is, I don't think I can get it. I guess if I cut the alt belt off it would be a snap, but how to get back on it to tighten it.
Gotta run for now, I'll check back soon.

 

Have not done my belts. But I see fraying on the AC belt. And I know all the belts need replacement.

Have to get the PS and Alternator ones and plan on doing this with the tips below.

I have the section on this in the manual printed.

Will do this shortly. Will post DIY and pics.

 

But the TL is going to the shop to get the CEL on EGR issue cleaned up. I need to get this done so I can get my emissions passed.

 

I still haven't got my belts changed, but I finally believe I know what tool I'll have to use to get the alt bottom bolt loose. I think I'll need an offset box end 14mm wrench. I have one in 9/16, but I'm afraid to round the bolt head since it's slightly larger than 14mm.

 

Well, the offset box wrench trick didn't quite work. I looked more closely and found an access hole through the strut that seemed to block access to the first alt bolt. I finally found the right combination of socket, extension and socket wrench to get on the bolt head. Godzilla must have come out of retirement to tighten the bolt and I needed a cheater bar to get it broken. The alt adjusting screw needs to be turned as if to tighten it to loosen the belt tension. I removed the battery and its tray to get better leverage also.

The AC belt seemed easiest and was straight forward.

The PS belt almost got me, I couldn't see the bottom mounting screw or the top mounting nut. The bottom screw is almost directly under the center of the PS pulley. The PS nut is just to the right of the PS fluid outlet. The adjusting bolt is somewhat hidden, but you can see it. It's near the PS fluid outlet pipe part of the hose and has an elongated head.

The instructions from desired speeds helped a lot, but I didn't find it an easy job (not much is for me anymore lol).

I'd be interested to know if they made it any easier on the 97 and 98 models than on my 96 especially the bottom alt bolt?

 

Thanks for the tips. Appreciate it. I have to tackle this soon.

 

Here's a picture of the bottom alt bolt wrench setup I used:

 

The battery has to come off to get in there. Thanks.

 

The battery didn't have to come out, but it made it easier and wasn't much work. I also removed the part that the air box (filter) mounts to to get at the PS mounting easier. It probably wasn't necessary either, but only 2 screws held that on.

 

Great thanks.