seanr1976 Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Hey everybody. I'm sorry to post something that others have discussed on here, but I'm having a real problem getting my serpentine belt onto my car. I have a 92 Eldorado with the 4.9 (non-northstar) V8. Of course, getting the old belt off the car was easy, but getting the new one on has been a real headache. Is there a trick to getting the belt onto the last pulley? According to my Haynes manual, I should be putting the belt on the power steering pulley last (I'm assuming because that is the forward-most pulley). One of the guys at Checker Auto Parts said that I should slip the belt under the tensioner lastly because the tensioner has a smooth surface--that should make moving the belt around easier. In either case, I can't get the belt on the car. Do I need a special tool? Can something inside the tensioner be loosened so I can have some more room? Any help you can provide would be appreciated. ---------------------- 1992 Eldorado 4.9L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Nunnally Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Sorry if this is a stupid question, but you know that the tensioner pulley moves, right? There is a place to fit a rachet head driver into the tensioner and rotate it slightly to allow the belt to be taken off or put on. Bruce 2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing Follow me on: Twitter Instagram Youtube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanr1976 Posted August 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Sorry if this is a stupid question, but you know that the tensioner pulley moves, right? There is a place to fit a rachet head driver into the tensioner and rotate it slightly to allow the belt to be taken off or put on. Oh yes, I'm aware of the tensioner. I have an 18" breaker bar to move the tensioner; I just don't have enough slack on the belt (with the tensioner relaxed) to get the belt into place. ---------------------- 1992 Eldorado 4.9L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Are you SURE you have the correct belt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Belt placement takes two minutes! Use a three feet stick to assist where your hand cannot reach it. As Ranger asked are you sure you have got right one? The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanr1976 Posted August 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Belt placement takes two minutes! Use a three feet stick to assist where your hand cannot reach it. As Ranger asked are you sure you have got right one? Well, according to Checker Auto Parts, yes, I have the correct belt. I've checked with them at 2 different stores. I will go back tomorrow and see if I can exchange mine for another one because I just can't get this one to fit. ---------------------- 1992 Eldorado 4.9L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Nunnally Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Can you measure the new old alongside the old one and compare them? Bruce 2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing Follow me on: Twitter Instagram Youtube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanr1976 Posted August 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Can you measure the new old alongside the old one and compare them? The original belt is gone, so I can't compare that one. The belt that I bought Wednesday appeared to be the right size in the sense that it appeared to be the same size as the old belt. If this new belt had like 1/2 inch more slack in it, I'm pretty sure I could get it on the car, but as it is right now, I can't. I'll try a different belt tomorrow. Thanks for all your feedback. ---------------------- 1992 Eldorado 4.9L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Can you measure the new old alongside the old one and compare them? The original belt is gone, so I can't compare that one. The belt that I bought Wednesday appeared to be the right size in the sense that it appeared to be the same size as the old belt. If this new belt had like 1/2 inch more slack in it, I'm pretty sure I could get it on the car, but as it is right now, I can't. I'll try a different belt tomorrow. Thanks for all your feedback. Any part number or what does the lable say about the size? The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanr1976 Posted August 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Can you measure the new old alongside the old one and compare them? The original belt is gone, so I can't compare that one. The belt that I bought Wednesday appeared to be the right size in the sense that it appeared to be the same size as the old belt. If this new belt had like 1/2 inch more slack in it, I'm pretty sure I could get it on the car, but as it is right now, I can't. I'll try a different belt tomorrow. Thanks for all your feedback. Any part number or what does the lable say about the size? According to Checker and Auto Zone, the belt for my car should be 86.5" X 6 ribs. I have a new belt now, and I still can't get the darn thing on the car. ---------------------- 1992 Eldorado 4.9L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lothos Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 This is the AC Delco part listed for your car on RockAuto.com ACDELCO Part # 6K863 {K06 13/16" x 86 7/8" #88932767} BELT,SERPENTINE AUTOMOTIVE V-RIBBED BELT STD $34.79 $0.00 $34.79 86 7/8" but the Dayco brand is 86.5". It looks like your belt is the right size. WARNING: I'm a total car newbie, don't be surprised if I ask a stupid question! Just trying to learn. Cheers! 5% discount code at RockAuto.com - click here for your discount! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Can you measure the new old alongside the old one and compare them? The original belt is gone, so I can't compare that one. The belt that I bought Wednesday appeared to be the right size in the sense that it appeared to be the same size as the old belt. If this new belt had like 1/2 inch more slack in it, I'm pretty sure I could get it on the car, but as it is right now, I can't. I'll try a different belt tomorrow. Thanks for all your feedback. Any part number or what does the lable say about the size? According to Checker and Auto Zone, the belt for my car should be 86.5" X 6 ribs. I have a new belt now, and I still can't get the darn thing on the car. The size is correct. I have attached a diagram in case you do not have one. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Ignore the red in this photo, but here is the belt routing. Put it on the crank pulley first then route up upward, use a short broom handle to help you guide it. Its not really that difficult as Adallak noted, you must have the the routing wrong. Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanr1976 Posted August 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2008 Ignore the red in this photo, but here is the belt routing. Put it on the crank pulley first then route up upward, use a short broom handle to help you guide it. Its not really that difficult as Adallak noted, you must have the the routing wrong. Thanks for all the help guys, but I did follow the correct routing for the belt. I just can't get the belt over all the pulleys. No big deal. I'll take the car to a place here in town Tuesday or Wednesday and have them do it. Thanks again. ---------------------- 1992 Eldorado 4.9L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanr1976 Posted September 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 Epilogue So I took the car to a repair shop in order to have a new belt installed. At first, I was told I couldn't get the belt on because it was the wrong belt (even though I had purchased 2 different belts already), but then we came to find that I could not install the belt because someone somewhere in the car's history had changed one of the engine's pullies. One of the pullies is now bigger than the original pulley, and the "correct" size belt can no longer fit on the car. So anyway, a new serp belt has been installed, but it is a bit longer than all the parts catalogues say I should have. Thanks to everybody for your questions/comments/suggestions. ---------------------- 1992 Eldorado 4.9L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted September 22, 2008 Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 Epilogue So I took the car to a repair shop in order to have a new belt installed. At first, I was told I couldn't get the belt on because it was the wrong belt (even though I had purchased 2 different belts already), but then we came to find that I could not install the belt because someone somewhere in the car's history had changed one of the engine's pullies. One of the pullies is now bigger than the original pulley, and the "correct" size belt can no longer fit on the car. So anyway, a new serp belt has been installed, but it is a bit longer than all the parts catalogues say I should have. Thanks to everybody for your questions/comments/suggestions. how in the World one could suggets a pulley had been replaced with wrong one! Glad everything is fine. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted September 22, 2008 Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 Recently we had a 4.9 owner report that they got an alternator with a smaller pulley, its possible that an alternator was installed with a larger pulley or the idler pulley was replaced with the wrong one Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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