2001 escort zx2 serpentine belt

my serpentine belt fell off without explaination, and I am having problems getting it back on. I can't get the tensioner to move at all, and can't see how to move it. Do I need to loosen the bolt in the center of the tensioner pulley, or is there a 3/8 square hole somewhere that a ratchet fits into to get it to move like my 84 escort has?

Also, if you could give me any insight as to why the belt would fall off, let me know.

The engine is a 2.0 liter dohc

Very cheap investment for your vehicle would be a Haynes manual. Saved me a bundle over the past decade.

Sorry for not answering your question, but for that particular model, I do not know.

A serp belt can come off if the tensioner is sticking, and wont pivot as it should. So when you find out how to rotate the tensioner - make sure it rotates evenly, without jamming at any point. Tensioners seldom go bad, but yours might be one of the rare ones that did.
Another thing that can get a serp belt to come off, is if a chunk of ice flew up and got caught in the belt turning. In such cases I would always buy a new belt - the old one might have damaged cords.
My Escort is a 2nd gen., so I dont know about the tensioner rotator for those. Sorry.

thanks, denisond for the informative post. This is the second time that it has fallen off, and I took it to a garage last time. I had asked them to put a new belt on, but they didn't follow my instructions, and put the old one back on. And it fell off again.

The haynes manual won't do me much good. I need the car tomorrow, and I don't live near a library or a bookstore. Also, I'll be selling the car soon. I was hoping that someone could help me here so that I could get it back on the road. Looks like I will just have to take it in again tomorrow, unless someone posts something soon.

Go to Auto Zone or Advanced Auto ask to look at a new tensioner. Look closely their is a place to put a socket,breaker bar or crows foot. Ask to rent a tool to install a new belt. If you buy one they should loan you a tool free otherwise buy one if you don't have one.
http://www.autopart.com/tools/toolsmain/tool/T_2700.htm I have a Lisle and Craftsman set but it looks almost the same. A lot of times I just use a long ratchet and socket what ever is handy.

I just thought I would update this post in the hope that it would help others with this same problem.

The first mechanic told me I needed to replace the water pump, as it was leaking and causing the belt to slip off. So I had him replace it, along with the iders and the tension pulley.

Within a year, it started slipping off again. I took it back, and he told me that it was the water pump. Hmmm...you just replaced it a few months ago, how could that be? Well, we got it replaced, no charge for parts. I was charged for labor. He also replaced the timing belt for me, as it was beyond the maintenance schedule.

Guess what...it started slipping off again. I took it to another mechanic, in another town (we moved). Guess what his diagnosis was? Water pump. I told him that we had already had it replaced twice. He swore up and down that he saw cooling leaking out the weep hole. I had him replace it with a motorcraft (original equipment part). Two weeks later, it slipped off again.

I finally found someone that would listen to me. He pressure tested the coolant system with die...and found a small leak in the head gasket. It was spraying coolant onto the belts. After replacing the head gasket, everything has been great for 6 months.

During this whole ordeal, I got pretty good at putting this belt on. I hope I don't need to do it again.

And to answer my original question, just turn the bolt counter clockwise, and the tension is taken off the belt. Sometimes the simplest questions can be the hardest to answer.

oh yeah, and the haynes manual? I do have several of them, and 9 times out of 10, they don't have the information that I need. I'm struggling with the heater on this car now, can't get the diverter to work. I'll cover that in another post, tho....and the haynes manual doesn't cover it....

Good feedback.

Their manuals for the 2nd-Gen (1999 edition) are very well written. Not really useful for diagnostics, just step-by-step part replacement. I've replaced not only the waterpump, but also the headgasket using that manual. They don't address every detail (like turning bolts counter-clockwise) but no manual will. There will be things left to the reader to figure out.

That said, I can relate. Had purchased a manual for a Buick Park Avenue to help with rear window-lift motor replacement and it was all but useless. Basically ended up figuring out nearly everything for myself.