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Hi, I'm Don from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks.
In this video I'm going to show you how to replace a serpentine belt on a '97 Buick LeSabre. It should be the same operation for a 97-99 LeSabre with a 3.8 liter engine. The items you're going to need are a 15mm, 18mm, and 19 mm socket and socket wrench; a flat pocket screwdriver; pliers; a floor jack; and a new belt from 1A Auto.
Before taking your belt off, reference this diagram, and that's what you're going to need to remember when you go to put the belt back on. Using a flat blade screwdriver in the notch, pry off your cover. With 19mm socket and air gun, remove your wheels.
Now, with the tire off, I'm going to support underneath the engine with the floor jack, and I've got some wood between the floor jack and the oil pans so it doesn't damage it, and we just want to support that as we're taking out a bolt from the motor mount. Inside the wheel well you're going to find one, two, and then three, plastic rivets. I'm using a flat head screwdriver and a pair of pliers. I'm going to pry out the center portion of the plastic rivet and give a tug with my pliers. Pull out the rivet. Do that for all three. In this case, this vehicle is missing the one that's up inside. Just pull down your splash pan.
Inside the wheel well, locate the 18mm nut on the lower portion of the motor mount bracket. Using an 18 mm socket, extension, and socket wrench, remove the 18 mm nut. You'll see, when I pull it out, that it's actually a nut with a stud attached to it, and you want to just pull them both out.
Now, back on top of the engine, standing on the passenger's side, looking down, you're going to notice the sleeve that the bolt went around is still in there, right down here. You just need to pull that out.
The belt tensioner pulley is right below the alternator. The alternator being here, here being the belt tensioner, and I'm going to use a 15mm socket and socket wrench to loosen up the tension on the belt. Once I've got that, I'll slide it off the alternator pulley, and the rest of the pulleys. Snake the belt back up through the top.
We've got our old belt, and we've got our new belt from 1A Auto, an exact replacement fit. Take the new belt. I'm going to snake it in, inside of the motor mount and through the space where the bar was that we took out. I'm going to put it over the A/C compressor, bring it around to the crank pulley. I'm going to bring it up over the water pump, up to the idler, down to the power steering. Here you can see that the belt is down on the A/C compressor, around the crank, up to the water pump, up over the tensioner, down to the power steering pulley, and back up around to here. Now, when I put the pressure on the tensioner, to release it, I should be able to snake the belt right over the alternator pulley. Put your 15mm on the tensioner and get ready to move counter clockwise. Have the belt in your other hand, and put it on. Here you see the belt up over the alternator, tensioner pulley, water pump, crank, AC compressor, and power steering pump.
We hope this video helps you out. Brought to you by www.1AAuto.com, your source for quality replacement parts and the best service on the Internet. Please feel free to call us toll-free, 888-844-3393. We're the company that's here for you on the Internet and in person.
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Hi, I’m Mike from 1A Auto. We’ve been selling auto parts for over 30 years!
Go inside the vehicle and open up the hood. With the vehicle on the ground, you're going to use a breaker bar and a 22 millimeter socket to loosen the lug nuts. Raise and support your vehicle with a jack and jack stands—we're using a two post lift. Use the socket to finish removing the lug nuts. All right, seized to the hub. Take a couple of lug nuts, just thread them on lightly. You can use a dead blow or a rubber mallet. Hit on the tire, it will knock it free. Lug nuts will keep the wheel from falling off. Now it's loose so you finish taking the lug nuts off. Just going to support it so it doesn't fall. I'm just going to turn this knuckle out of the way.
Remove these two push clips holding in this plastic shield. I'm going to use a flat bladed screwdriver to just pop them up and unlock them. They might break, and you'll have to get new ones. It's very common for them to break. Try to get this one first. They get old and brittle. I'm going to use a trim clip tool, trying to get underneath them, and I'll just break them off. I'll have to replace these with new ones afterwards.
I'm just going to pop them through the holes. They're just plastic. It's not a big deal. I'm going to take a bungee cord and just hold this fender liner up and out of the way. I'll just bungee it over.
If you want to reuse the belt, you can mark the direction that it's mounted in by just taking a paint marker and just putting an arrow to the outside. This has got a pretty broad tip, but I'll know when I reinstall it that I want that arrow facing out. The belt is already worn in, and I want it to travel in the same direction. If you're going to replace the belt, don't worry about marking the direction. The belt tensioner is here. It has a 1/2 inch drive opening on it. You could use a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar. I'm going to use a 1/2 inch drive socket with a swivel head. Whatever you've got that will let you in there.
Basically, you're just going to line it up. You might have to turn it—that's why a ratchet might be easier than a breaker bar. Get it pushed into the opening, and now we're going to push it to the back. Take the tension off, and then pop it off of this eyelet pulley because it's a smooth pulley. Get the belt off, just like that. You have to slide it underneath the tensioner pulley, and now I can slowly release the tensioner. I'll just feed the belt out of the engine compartment.
There's the drive belt, our serpentine belt. Since we're reusing the belt, I made an arrow to tell me the direction because I want the belt to go in the same direction so the arrow is pointing up this way. I put the belt in the vehicle this way.
I'm going to reach up and get it around the power steering pulley first. Bring it over the water pump pulley, and bring it down around the alternator. I'll loosely put it around the idler pulley near at the alternator. It's going to have to slide behind the tensioner between the tensioner and the block. You actually have to flip it sideways and slide it up, and then it will go down around the A/C compressor. We'll put it around the crank. I'll put it on the tensioner, loosen the tensioner and then pop it over the idler and then release the tensioner. Take the bungee cord out of the way.
Put this splash shield back up with some new clips. Now turn the knuckle straight and reinstall the wheel and tire.
Install the lug nuts by hand. Just going to use the socket, and thread these down. We'll re-torque them with the vehicle on the ground. Torque the lug nuts in a cross pattern to 140 foot-pounds.
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