End of saga, serp belt removal

[DDiMarco]

Thanks to others and especially Steve St. Laurent, I discovered the 1/2 in square hole in the tensioner that receives a 1/2 drive ratchet. I chose to do this from underneath instead of from the top. One can insert the 1/2 in ratchet drive, use it as a cantilever, and unload the serp belt to slip it off. The biggest hassle is working the belt around the tensioner pulley, you must remove the belt from all other components including working it around the front of the fan, so that you can position the belt athwartship (flat against the engine block) and work it free. I had to convince the dealer (this was a warantee job, 4k miles) that it was in his best interest to compensate me for the belt (they objected because I took it off) or I would make them come to my house and tow the truck; as much as I would have hated that. For those that don't know the beginning of the story, CT had snow this am; the thought of some kid towing my expensive truck in the snow did not appeal to me at all so I took the risk of changing the belt knowing that the dealer might reject compensating me for a job they couldn't document. I might be pulling my hair out tomorrow when I re-route this 7-8 ft belt. Thanks to TDR for the help.

 

[swexlin]

I had to convince the dealer (this was a warantee job, 4k miles) that it was in his best interest to compensate me for the belt (they objected because I took it off)

I did have to have mine towed to the dealer(flat-bedded actually, that's another story in in itself). I wanted it in my service record, as this is highly unusual.

 

[EB]

Have fun putting it back on, I hope you have heat where you are working, it's not a 5 minute job. I don't know how you got your's off going in front of the fan, maybe the 04. 5 Rams are different than the 03's, I had the fan thermostat electric line that runs from the center of the fan hub in the way. The belt doesn't go back on or come off that way on my truck, I know because I was about to try to disconnect it to put the belt back on. Look at the diagram of the belt removeal real close. Even after changing mine, I would hate to have to do it in the dark on the side of the road. Keep your old belt for a spare in case of an emergency.

 

[swexlin]

This thread prompted me to go down and examine my replacement belt, about 3000 miles on it now. I have a couple of theories about why some of us with 04. 5s have had the failure:



The pulley at the bottom passenger side of the engine, attached to. . what pump is that? If there is going to be a derailment, I think this is the place. There is NO room for error for a mis-installed belt. The first rib (from the front of the engine) rides RIGHT THERE in the first groove. There is maybe a millimeter or so of pulley edge showing. It seems to me that it wouldn't take alot, say a small pebble getting kicked in there, or even going over a large enough bump, because the "SLIGHTEST" misalignment could cause that belt to mis-track on that edge, wear, and eventually fail.

That being said, I think that some of these may have not been aligned right coming down the assembly line, and there you have it... my theory.

 

[Kirwin]

Belt install help

You can remove the alternator bottom bolt and loosen the top one and that will allow the alternator to move down enough to make it much easier to get the belt onto all the pulleys. Then you can put the ratchet on the tensioner and get the slack you need to put the bottom alternator bolt back in. This is how I do it. Its up to you if you want to try it, but it does make the job easier unless your alternator bolt is frozen in place. Be careful with your wrench such that you don't touch the alternator output stud on the back of your alternator. Hope this helps. Ken Irwin

 

[ThomasLawrence]

Be careful with your wrench such that you don't touch the alternator output stud on the back of your alternator.

Or just disconnect the batteries first... ALWAYS a good thing to do when working anywhere near the alternator (or any work on the engine, actually).



-Tom