Belt Questions

I have an 02 Windstar. Anyone know the OEM recommended replacement life for the serpentine drive belt? I have around 55k and have never replaced it yet. Also, it has a 6 cylinder. Does this have a timing belt and what is the replacement cycle for that?

The Windstar has a timing chain. I replaced the serpentine belt on my '01 at around 62,000 because it has a few deep cracks in it. I had a friend help me out installing the belt as there's not a lot of room under the hood. He helped guide the belt over the upper pulleys and I used a breaker bar for the tensioner and slipped the belt around the crank pulley while laying on a creeper.

I put over 100k miles on my original serp belt ... but I kept a close watch on it.

With slow forceful pulling on the belt, you can slip it off the alternator pulley using no tools ... well, gloves are nice. You can't rush it ... gotta give the belt time to snake around pulleys and move the tensioner.

With proper oil and filter maintenance, the timing chain should last "forever".

Hi, I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I also need some help with Belt replacement. I have Windstart (95, 3.8L) and the belt was in bad condition. So my brother, who is very good dyi type person, took the old belt off and using direction from Windstart manual/book, is trying to install the belt. The problem is he can't seem figure out the Tentioner bar/pully part of the instructions :banghead: . Are there any detailed photo/video type instructions that can help him out?

Thanks in Advance.

If the 95 is the same as the 96 you can put a wrench on the center pulley bolt (17mm if I remember correctly) then slip a pipe over the wrench for leverage. This will allow you to rotate the tensioner aganist the tension spring so you can slip the belt on. I found that it works best for me if I put the belt on all the pulleys except the water pump (the smooth pulley) then rotate the tensioner and slip it over the water pump pulley.

You should find a belt diagram under the hood in case you forget how it goes.

There will be a belt diagram on the underside of the hood....
Also, they most likely have one at autozone's website.....under the vehicle specific repair information.

Another note, if the surface of the pulley has grooves in it....it gets the inside, grooved part of the belt.
If the surface of the pulley is smooth.....it gets the smooth outside of the belt.

Thanks kevink1995 & wiswind for your quick response.

We did see the diagram and found the Tentioner pully but it is way back down near the bottom, so it seems we would need a special tool to get down there to release the tension so that the belt can be slipped on.

On mine....it IS hard to get to....I had to use a wrench......not a socket.
On my '96, it is 15mm.
I have (but it take a hard pull) placed the belt over all but 1 pulley .....whichever is at the top on your year as they moved some stuff around a bit over the years.......and then give the belt a good hard pull....which pulls the tensioner with the pull....giving you enough to pull the belt over the pulley.

That said......get a 15mm wrench.....box or open end......and put it over that bolt in the center of the tensioner pulley......and pull it forward & clockwise....and the tensioner will move....giving you the slack that you need.
You do this after having placed the belt over all but that last pulley.....so that you only have to pull on the wrench....and slide the belt over that pulley....and you are done.

Then...before starting the engine......carefully inspect the belt at each pulley to make sure that it is fully on.....not part way off the pulley.

On mine....it IS hard to get to....I had to use a wrench......not a socket.
On my '96, it is 15mm.
I have (but it take a hard pull) placed the belt over all but 1 pulley .....whichever is at the top on your year as they moved some stuff around a bit over the years.......and then give the belt a good hard pull....which pulls the tensioner with the pull....giving you enough to pull the belt over the pulley.

That said......get a 15mm wrench.....box or open end......and put it over that bolt in the center of the tensioner pulley......and pull it forward & clockwise....and the tensioner will move....giving you the slack that you need.
You do this after having placed the belt over all but that last pulley.....so that you only have to pull on the wrench....and slide the belt over that pulley....and you are done.

Then...before starting the engine......carefully inspect the belt at each pulley to make sure that it is fully on.....not part way off the pulley.

Thanks. My brother was able to rent the Tool for free (from Autozone) that was needed to move the tensioner and successfully replaced the belt. What a relief. Thanks for all the advise.