Serpentine Belt Education

[Huney1]

http://autorepair.about.com/library/.../aa071205a.htm

[mwt878991]

Notice what he says on page 6; ". . . . get an OEM serpentine drive belt from a Dealer. The Dealer's belt will be more money, but you'll make it up over the cost of two or three non-OEM belts." In other words, use a genuine Ford MotoCraft belt.[/quote]

BS no one makes a better belt than the Gatorback.

Mike

[rassillon]

anyone got a picture of the Ford Taurus (2000 year) 3.0 ohv serpentine belt routing please?
any guidance on which pulley is the adjuster would be helpfull.

[shorod]

Originally Posted by rassillon

anyone got a picture of the Ford Taurus (2000 year) 3.0 ohv serpentine belt routing please?
any guidance on which pulley is the adjuster would be helpfull.

Your car uses an automatic belt tensioner and there is no "adjustment" to it. When working properly, it will maintain the proper belt tension.

The belt routing is usually listed both in the owner's manual as well as on a sticker under the hood, either stuck to the underside of the hood or near the emission label (near radiator core support area).

If you don't have the sticker or the owner's manual, see if the following diagram helps. It is taken from the service manual for the 2002 Taurus, but hopefully it will match up. Item 6 is the automatic belt tensioner.

If you want more detail, you can visit http://www.members.aol.com/Rod241473...lt_routing.pdf

-Rod

[GPFred]

When I did my serpentine belt a few months back, I had to use an extension bar on the wrench in order to move the automatic tensioner enough to both remove and replace the belt. It takes about 10 minutes to do the job. Good Luck.

[zombie13]

Originally Posted by GPFred

When I did my serpentine belt a few months back, I had to use an extension bar on the wrench in order to move the automatic tensioner enough to both remove and replace the belt. It takes about 10 minutes to do the job. Good Luck.

One thing to note (on my '03 anyway) is that the tensioner will "lock" in the released state to allow for the easy replacement of the belt. Then you just apply some leverage to the tensioner and it will again apply tension and you should be good to go. This screwed me up as I didn't know it would happen. I thought I had the wrong belt at first....

Z.

[Huney1]

'BS no one makes a better belt than the, (Good Year), Gatorback. Mike' Good feedback there Mike and I 'preciate it.

Rereading old threads and searched the web and found one for the Taurus for $26.99 about the same price as a premium aftermarket belt. Fortunately I have a neighbor who knows how to change a belt so no problem there. I'll change it at 60K miles because for thirty bucks it's not worth the hassel being broke down out on a gator swamp road, or on I-95 when it's 100F in the shade. Bummer!