What is the secret to getting the belts tight?

[nwoods]

My belts squeal whenever I turn the steering wheel, suggesting a loose belt. No problem says I, that should be something easy enough that even I can do it. Little did I know how challenging it would be! The top belts are definitely loose, and the bottom belts look kinda loose as well. So I took off the skid plates and tried tightening the bottom tensioner. Nope. Wouldn't even turn. So I loosened it, then retightened it. Mistake! When I tried tightening it, the bolt head kept slipping out of the groove that appears to be designed to repel the bolt head After several fruitless attempts to have something different happen each time I try the same thing, I got marginally smarter, and stuff a socket between the bolt and an adjacent fitting, more or less holding the bolt within the slot as I tightened it. The bottom belt is still not all that tight, but its not any looser than I started, and it's not the power steering belt, so I called it good enough, and moved to the top end tensioner.

This is where I started getting really frustrated. No amount of tightening this tensioner seems to do any good at all. I was able to loosen it, and marginally tighten it, but it never got tight. I can pinch the belts about 2" of slack, which seems like a lot! And indeed, the slightest attempt turn the steering wheel just stalls the pulley that drives the steering assembly pump, and it gives a god awful squeal.

Not quite willing to give up yet, I decided to try extra hard, and proceeded to sink the nut solidly into the ultrasoft aluminum that the pulley bracket is made out of. Now I fear I have shredded the slotted bolt connector that the tensioner bolt is supposed to mount to.

So now I have an undrivable Montero, the belts are so loose I can't even turn the steering wheel, and I can't figure out a way to tighten them.

Any suggestions?

Photos:

 

[StillBlue22]

hahaha oh man this happened to me the first month i had my rig, i broke that little ear the bolt sits in. its reverse threads so make sure you turn it the right way, if you screw up that little ear to the point where it won't hold the bolt you're gonna have to get it brazed back together. make sure the nut on the wheel is actually loosened up first, this will give it freedom to move up or down, then since this bolt is reverse thread (righty, makes pulley go down. lefty, makes pulley go up) once its as tight as you need it, tighten the bolt up real good on that wheel.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

FYI, that washer that is under the bracket is supposed to sit between the bolt head and the bracket, fix it and profit.

 

[jlocster]

Nathan, you have to loosen the tensioner pulley first, and then adjust the tension. To loosen the pulley, unscrew the bolt in the center of the tensioner pulley in question so it is able to move. Then, set the belt tension by turning the adjustment screw. After the desired belt tension is set, tighten the center tensioner pulley bolt to keep the pulley in place.

 

[nwoods]

Jay, that was hugely helpful advice! I was able to get it sorted out this morning relatively easy. Of course for me, easy is definitely relative! To get to the top pulley, I had to remove the fan shroud. To remove the fan shroud I had to remove the upper radiator hose, which for some reason was WELDED ON with something that I could probably sell to 3M for millions of dollars once the adhesive formula was duplicated. After much nashing of teeth and scraping of knuckles, the radiator hose has been replaced (I had to cut the old on off).

So what started out yesterday as a 15 minute project, ended up taking about 4 hours, and a trip to the autoparts store, and two band-aides, and unfortunately, no new tools

 

[nwoods]

FYI, that washer that is under the bracket is supposed to sit between the bolt head and the bracket, fix it and profit.

I don't see how that's possible. The washer is a flange that appears to be molded into the bolt. Can you post a picture of yours?

 

[TheMole]

Here is a pic of how mine looks.

 

[nwoods]

Thanks TheMole, looks just like mine, but in better condition

 

[Swift_45a]

Bumping this because I just bought a Gen 2.5 to swap my parts over from my 96 SR (which will likely be parted out and or up for sale if anyone wants her soon) and I'm encountering that same squeaking sound from the power steering pulley. I sprayed it water to lube it and see if any of the bearings were damaged, and as suspected the sound stops and all bearings are intact. So it leads me to believe its just the tension that needs to be adjusted.

Can anyone repost pics or a post a video of how to do that as I want to avoid damaging the 'ear' while trying to do the same thing NWoods did.

Thanks!

 

[Toasty]

Reread post #4 in this thread, it's a super easy job that goes wrong when step 1 (loosening the pully) is skipped.

 

[Swift_45a]

Yeah, just saw that, ended up using a 3/8 wratchet with 14mm socket on a cheater pipe wit no have to remove the shroud and fan, unfortunately its the idler pulley itself and not the tension as it seems to have some play on it.

So, off to Rock Auto it seems.

 

[chadzeilenga]

While you have the belt off it’s a good idea to clean any residual rubber off that has been transferred during the squealing.

This is what happens when a belt is allowed to slip, there is some material that melts to the pulleys and then tensioner requires additional force to prevent slippage. The FSM should have a spec on the proper amount of belt deflection for the right tension setting.

I’ve always used some brake cleaner and a wire brush to get in the grooves.


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