The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop serp belt

got a big problem. Our college kid in Phoenix had the belt go on her 98 Cavilere (sp), 2.2 Litre. She changed the pulley that went out and took the belt. Now she can't get the belt on. I had her buy the best belt tool I know of. A Lisle LS 57900. She still don't have enough swing room to get the tensioner down far enough to get the belt on. Any one have any experence with these little cars and hopefully a solution. Thanks. Mike

Is she sure that she has the belt wound around the pulleys properly ? Sometimes those diagrams can be confusing. Have her check to be sure the belt is routed according to the diagram..

53, we've been through that. Of course as I'm here and she's there I can't really know but, I've got to believe she has it right. She's put a lot of thought and effort into all this. But we will go over this again tomorrow. I may have to find the same model car here, get the same tool she now has, and have a go at it myself. Thanks. Mike

there may be a difference whether Air conditioning is involved.
.
Always remember to have the flat side of the belt on the flat pulleys and the ribbed side of the belt on the ribbed pulleys.
.
One may have to use a 1/2in. drive ratchet,pull up on the tensioner as much as possible and then get the rest of the pull with the ratchet.

Exactly, shorter belt or bigger pulley would make it very difficult to fit the belt on. I assume that she checked to make sure new pulley = old pulley. Have her check and make sure they gave her the right belt too.

thanks, Mechanic and Chiphead. We've been through the size stuff too, belt and pully. We has been over the belt routing and she understands that. AC is involved. The problem is room. There isn't room for a ratchet, the space is too narrow. That's why I had her buy the Lisle serpetine belt tool. But even with it she runs out of swing room, the tensioner isn't bottomed out. The handle is stopped by the motor mount (?) maybe, or whatever. Last thing I suggested before she had to head to class was, to use the two shorter bars and pull it as far as possible, then install the longer bar and see if that gave her enough slack. She hasn't called back yet. I am hoping someone with experence with these Chevy Cavalier 4 bangers will see this post and know the problem and the solution. I thank you both for your reply. Mike

This is what I would do. Have her use her AAA card and get a free tow to the nearest shop. Then have them put on the belt (while she waits). I bet they would charge less than what you paid for that tool.

If she doesn't have AAA shame on you, get her some.

Tony, she did have towing, but she cut up that credit card when it was paid off. Not thinking, and me not knowing. And I've never had towing, never felt the need of it, till now. And if we do tow it, where ya going to take it??? She don't know anyone there, me either. I rarely take anything to a shop, the couple times I did it was local. Do you have any idea how bad some shops, and dealers will gouge a young person, especially a female? Two diffrent shops near Chicago wanted $470.00+ to R&R a coil pack on another daugther's 98 Cavalier! I bought it for $38.00, drove 150 miles, changed it out in 5 minutes flat. Of course it cost me another $30.00 for fuel, so what. If any one knows a reliable shop in Scottdale, Az. or near there, I'm all ears. Mike

I think she has a wrong part, the belt or the pulley. Going to recheck those today. Thanks all. Mike

I didn't know AAA was a credit card. Here you just pay a yearly membership and then get free towing.

I would guess any service station could put on the belt if you already have the parts. I wouldn't pay more than $30- The tow truck driver might even do it.

I have newer vehicles as well and don't do much to them myself. If something goes out I get the yellow pages and call around for some quotes. Then I watch them do the work.

Just trying to give you an alternative.

I use a long boxed-end wrench with offset ends. Try wrench at different positions till I get enough swing. Always worked, be it a snake belt in a olds, Firebird, Dodge pickup, etc. Only difference is some are SAE, and some tensioner bolts are metric.
When I approach problems, I think about design for manufacture, meaning that the car co's usually design this stuff to be easy to install at the factory. Just that the assembly manuals tell you how to hold your mouth just right.

If that doesn't work, tell her to spritz some water on her hamster motor before driving. :p

still ain't there. She is able to get the tensioner full travel, it won't go any farther. The belt number and part is right. We are down to the belt not being strung right, or she has the idler pulley installed wrong. If that is possible. She has studied the belt routing enough that she knows what's right. I'm about to go with a slightly bigger belt, if that's possible. Tomorrow, somehow I'm going to fine a Cavalier and study this situation till I see what is going on. Thanks everyone. Mike

Mike, to find a decent mechanic in the Scottsdale area, here's a couple of things to try:

1. go to stovebolt home page and get on the stovebolt locator and email directly any of those 3 fellows listed for arizona asking, if they have info on that area.

2. try this link: http://cartalk.cars.com/About/Garage/mechan-x/find.html ... for my area it pulled up 8 or 10 garages for which folks had submitted reviews for honesty, competence, price, etc. and I found that the reports pretty well jived with what I had heard or actually experienced with some of these shops. Worth a try.

Best o' luck.

Ed B.

GMSea, Problem solved. I asked her to call AAA out there, even though she don't belong, and ask them which shop they would recommend for the repair. They gave her 3 mobil repair types, the 1st didn't answer, the 2nd said they would be there in an hour, and it would be $60.00. They were there in less than an hour. The guy was impressed that the belt was routed, and right. He slipped it on using a ratching box end wrench. Then he asked about her fluids. She had already done that but he said he'd burp it just to make sure. He did that, then ran it for about 15 minutes to check for leaks. He was great, and I thought $60.00 was very reasonable.

I bumped up "mobil auto repair" on the net. There were 3 in Scottsdale, several in Phoenix it's self. I wish I'd thought of doing that a couple dys ago.

Thanks to all who replied to my problem. It is much apperated, by myself and Serena. Mike

The good news is that she doesn't have 3 "boyfriends" who could have helped her out!

SHe may have a boyfriend or two but we all know how MOST young men are with cars now(There are a few sharp younger ones here),probably have better luck with getting one of her female friends to help
.
Glad things are back on the road for her

she had a boyfriend, I even moved him out there to be closer to her. But all he wanted to do was listen to CDs and watch TV. She don't "need" any one to do things for her. I do hope someday she will have a boyfriend to do things with her. Mike