Serpentine belt replacement 2001

[road_rascal]

Just replaced the serpentine belt on my 2001 Windstar. Not a fun task as it took two people to do it. Why Ford decided to cram the tensioner way in the back corner is beyond comprehension . Not too hard of a job once you jack the front of the van two feet in the air but it takes a second person to help guide the belt from the top while another cranks on the tensioner from underneath. If you managed to do it yourself I'd like to see you do it !

[12Ounce]

Actually, it is "doable" by one person. I got the hint from this very forum ... and have replaced/removed the belt (by myself) on my '99 3.8 several times.

The "hint" is to forget about putting a tool on the tensioner, just grab the belt on both sides of the alternator pulley and pull it SLOWLY but FORCEFULLY. If you pull with a bit of patience (you don't have to be an athlete ... I just turned 67), the tensioner will move and give you some belt slack. When this happens, you just shove the belt off of the alt pulley.

It takes a bit of practice ... but not much. I do like to take the cowling off ... just for clearance.

[Ulsterman]

I found a very easy method was to place a ringspanner/wrench with a shallow offset onto the nut on the tensioner pulley and pull towards the front of the vehicle and then just slip the belt over the alternator pulley.

[CoachKarl]

Ditto with Ulsterman. Use a 15mm Box End wrench on the tensioner pulley bolt. Brace yourself against the passenger (right) tire. Pull on the wrench with the right hand, while slipping the belt over the alt with the left.

CoachKarl

[road_rascal]

Your setup must be different than mine. I had to use a 13mm wrench and I don't see how you could possibly squeeze a hand down from the top to get a good enough grip on the wrench, much less than have enough room to push (yes, push if you were releasing tension from the top) the wrench far enough back to create enough slack to get the belt on.