'96 trep 3.5L T-Belt

[PigPen5150]

I just bought a '96 Trep with 90,000 miles. The night before I decided to buy it, I got on this forum so I would know what to look for. I already knew Chrysler has a reputation for bad auto trannys. Anyway, after doing some research this car just had a new rack and pinion installed and inner tie rods. That bill alone was $2400. I bought the car from the dealership I work at for $2000 plus tt&l. I know I'll be doing a t-belt soon and it also needs valve cover gaskets. How hard is the t-belt, water pump, etc. Do I need to change the t-belt tensioner at the same time? Is it worth it to change plugs and wires while I'm doing the valve covers? My wife and I are really enjoying this car. We took it on about a 200 mile round trip last night to visit some friends. Car drove great, our only complaint is there is no air from the panel vents on the passenger side. Anyone know of a common cause for this? Thanks for your help in advance.

[theFREAKnasty82]

The t-belt is not that hard to do; once you remove all the accesories on the front of the motor; it's all downhill from there. When you replace the belt, the water pump is right there, so go on and replace it. The only time the tensioner needs to be replaced is if it's leaking. If you need any other bit of advice, let me know.

[mopargrl]

I think your car's main "belt" is actually called a timing-chain. The other belt you see has nothing to do with timing. My 97' ES has a timing chain. It cost me about 350$ for the part alone. If its just the other belt, its like 15 bucks on Kragen's website.

[PigPen5150]

I checked the owner's manual...it's a belt.

[LHSDriver01]

The 3.3L has a Chain, the 3.5L has a belt that is due for replacment at around 105K miles. I suggest replacing the tensioner and water pump while your in there. There is no need to replace the hyrdalic pistion that keeps the pressure on the tensioner, but just the pulley itself. It will go bad on you. I had a 95' Concorde that made it to 117K before i had a problem with the belt, and it was in fact the pulley that failed. Here what i found:



I bought a replacement tensioner pulley, water pump and the belt itself. Cost was ~$200. I spent about 10 hours in the driveway working on it, but if i had to do it again, i'm sure i could do it in half that time. You will need a 3 jaw puller to remove the crankshaft pulley - your local auto parts store will probably loan one to you - Other than that, a simple rachet set should do the job...