I'm in the process of taking care of a few regular maintenance items. I replaced my 1983 Subaru Brat (just took too much energy to keep it on the road) with a 99 Ranger XLT styleside W/ offroad pkg and 3.0 V6. I removed the serpentine belt for replacement, and I can't get the new one on. I have never dealt with a belt this difficult to replace. I've checked and rechecked my belt routing against the diagram to verify it is correct. I only need about 1/4 inch more. I'm sure that I am bottoming out the tensioner. Is there some sort of trick that is unique to this vehicle that I don't know about?


Thanks in advance,
Micah

you could have easilly got the wrong belt from the parts store. double check part number. is it possible it is not sitting in the groves correctlly?

I thought that was the case initially, so I went to the ford dealer and shelled out 35 bucks for the motorcraft belt. I'm sure it's the right one. I also checked and rechecked the pulleys to make sure it was lying in the correct grooves. Any other thoughts?

Micah

cant think of anything else. i replaced mine and had no problems at all. sorry

Success!!! I'm not sure if it is something particular to the 3.0 Flex-Fuel engine, but I had to call a friend over for another set of hands. Then I loosened the mounting bolts for the alternator and AC compressor. Then I routed the belt, lubed up the idler pulley with a little bit of dish soap, had my buddy crank down on the tensioner, and it slid right under the pulley with just a little coaxing.

Micah