3 quick questions about out 2001 LeSabre

[RustX7]

1) Do you need to do something with the motor mount in order to change the serpentine belt? I looked at this tonight and it doesn't look like you have to do anything besides remove the tensioner pulley, but I could have sworn that I discovered otherwise several months ago... so now I'm wondering if I'm missing something.

2) Do the front wheels have hubs that need to be disassembled and repacked with grease if you want to remove the brake rotors?

3) Is the method of reaching the rear spark plugs that you basically reach around behind the passenger's side of the engine to get two from that side, and then reach around the driver's side of the engine to get at the remaining one? I swear I remember looking at this too, and deeming it impossible, but now it seems possible again and I'm wondering if I'm missing something..

[imidazol97]

1. There were a few years before yours where the spacer on the one mount needed to be removed. Yours does not need that. Use a long socket on the tensioner pulley to lift it and the belt slips off.

2. No. The bearings are not a maintenance item. Occasionally someone has one go bad. It makes a growl noise sometimes when going bad.

3. Yes. I stand on a block to make the reach easier. Remember to put dielectric grease on the inside of the plug cap to make it easier to remove the next time.

[RustX7]

Thanks for the sanity checks. I must simply not have been thinking clearly when I checked out the plugs and the belt last year.

[RustX7]

Well I bought a belt... That tensioner pulley seems to be attached to a spring-loaded arm, so do I just compress that and slip the belt off?

Someone in another forum told me I need a diagram showing the correct belt-to-pulley placement before I start doing this job. Is that so? And where would I find such a diagram, and how would I go about adjusting this tensioner? It doesn't look terribly adjustable to me...

[brcidd]

Belt diagram is on the car, underhood usually on radiator support

Tensioner is spring loaded- just release it once the belt is on-- no adjustment necessary

[HotZ28]

Originally Posted by brcidd

Belt diagram is on the car, underhood usually on radiator support

For this particular model (2001) the belt routing may not be located under the hood and if not, it would be shown in the owners manual.

[RustX7]

Thanks guys. Is there a preferred method of tensioning it down? Just press on it anywhere?

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by RustX7

Thanks guys. Is there a preferred method of tensioning it down? Just press on it anywhere?

Use a 3/8" drive type breaker bar (18"-24" long) with a 15mm socket on the tensioner idler pulley bolt. As mentioned earlier it is an automatic tensioner.

Originally Posted by RustX7

And where would I find such a diagram

Highly recommended to have a belt layout diagram before starting this type job. Not the best pic but you can use this one.


SII 3800 VIN "K" Belt Layout. The blurry words are: GENERATOR, IDLER, P/S, W/P, CRANK and A/C

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