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Tech / General EngineIs your car making a strange sound or won't start? Thinking of adding power with a new combination? Need other technical information or engine specific advice? Don't see another board for your problem? Post it here!
Hello everyone, I am fairly new to automobile work so please forgive me if this is a stupid question.
I'm trying to change my (serpentine? think i got it right belt lol)belt and I cannot find the tensioner pulley. I have been doing a lot of research including watching youtube, looking at images, and looking at the actual part to see what it looks like, to no avail.
1987s are hybrids. They have a V-belt drive system, so you don't have a tensioner pulley. However, they also feature a partial serpentine drive integrated into the V-belt drive, in the form of one 5-rib serpentine belt that wraps around the components that are necessary for drive: crank, water pump and alternator. None of the other accessories are "drive" accessories, and they feature individual V-belts to run them. You can drive without an air compressor; you can drive without a power steering pump; and you can drive without an air pump; but you can't drive without an alternator and water pump, at least, not for very long. So, technically, those components do have a "serpentine drive," just not the full serpentine drive system that came along in 1988-forward, like all cars have today.
For your alternator, loosen the bolt in the top bracket and in the bottom bracket. This will allow the alternator to tilt inward and put slack in the belt. Then remove and replace the belt. Then with a pry bar, gently pry the alternator back to put tension in the belt again, but not too tight, then tighten the bolts. Done.
Edit: Not quite done. As you can see, the air pump belt is in the way. This is where GM employed magicians to teach them how to do the interlocking rings magic trick, but they neglected to include that knowledge in the 1987 owner's manual. Therefore, we mortals have to loosen the air pump too, same principle as the alternator, and remove its belt first.
Last edited by LAFireboyd; 04-13-2023 at 08:47 PM.
1987s are hybrids. They have a V-belt drive system, so you don't have a tensioner pulley. However, they also feature a partial serpentine drive integrated into the V-belt drive, in the form of one 5-rib serpentine belt that wraps around the components that are necessary for drive: crank, water pump and alternator. None of the other accessories are "drive" accessories, and they feature individual V-belts to run them. You can drive without an air compressor; you can drive without a power steering pump; and you can drive without an air pump; but you can't drive without an alternator and water pump, at least, not for very long. So, technically, those components do have a "serpentine drive," just not the full serpentine drive system that came along in 1988-forward, like all cars have today.
For your alternator, loosen the bolt in the top bracket and in the bottom bracket. This will allow the alternator to tilt inward and put slack in the belt. Then remove and replace the belt. Then with a pry bar, gently pry the alternator back to put tension in the belt again, but not too tight, then tighten the bolts. Done.
Edit: Not quite done. As you can see, the air pump belt is in the way. This is where GM employed magicians to teach them how to do the interlocking rings magic trick, but they neglected to include that knowledge in the 1987 owner's manual. Therefore, we mortals have to loosen the air pump too, same principle as the alternator, and remove its belt first.
99% correct. That flat belt is actually called a micro-ribbed v-belt. micro-ribbed v-belt - Google Search
But if it ran around all the pulleys and had a tensioner, then it would be called serpentine.
That setup doesn't have a "serpentine" (snake-like... dig back and remember your grade-school Latin) belt. It DOES have a wide flat ribbed belt, but it is not "serpentine". The belt just looks alot like certain other belts that ARE "serpentine".
You tighten it by loosening the alternator hardware and prying it outward, then tightening the hardware back. To replace it, move the alternator all the way inwards toward the center of the motor.
the 'pry' bar fits through the hole in the top of the bracket where it can provide outward force on the body of the alternator
each of these v-belt accessories has some built in method of applying tension to the belt when installing a new one. some of that info may be getting scarce
04-13-2023, 07:33 PM
