Replacing F-150 serpentine belt.

[N80]

I had my '03 F-150 at the oil change place today and they mentioned that the serpentine belt had a nick in it. As you probably know, these places always find something that they want to fix. I asked them to mark it and told them I'd look at it. Sure enough there is a little (tiny) nick in the outside edge (facing me when I look under the hood). It is maybe a few mm wide and is not full thickness involving the top edge (the smooth side, the 'bottom' edge is grooved).

I think this belt is original so it has close to 60k miles on it. The nick is so small I'm inclined to ignore it....but that may not be wise. I just don't know.

How hard is it to replace one of these? It looks like I'll have to pull some stuff out to get to it like the fan shroud and some other junk. I've replaced all sorts of belts on all sorts of other vehicles but have never messed with one of these serpentine deals. Are there any special pitfalls, special tools or special warnings I need to know about? Anything peculiar about the F-150 .....this is the 5.4l v-8. I've looked at the routing diagram for this belt and it is 'serpentine' but not as convoluted as some I've seen.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[tallyho8]

If it's like my 2001 F150 it's a snap. All I need is one wrench to put on the belt tensioner to put slack in the belt and remove the old belt and thread it around everything and reinstall the new belt the same way. No parts removals, very easy.

 

[gordon21]

Make sure to check the price online with a couple places. A belt like that could run from $35-80 depending upon where you buy it.

NAPA, Autozone, Pep boys, etc

 

[Egon]

Some are so easy to change and others, well!!!

It took me two hours to convince myself the motor mount bracket had to come to change the belt a a 93 Grand Am.

 

[Bird]

George, the good news on the serpentine belts is that you don't have to actually loosen anything with a wrench, then pry it back out and sometimes just guess at how much tension to hold on it while you tighten a bolt. Instead, you have a spring loaded automatic tensioner so you need one wrench to pull against that spring.

The bad news is that some are not too hard to do while others almost require a second person; one to pull and hold the tensioner while the other puts the belt in all the right pulleys.

In the Fall of '91, I had to put two serpentine belts on the 460 Ford engine in my motorhome. I was able to lay on my back underneath, get my wrench on one tensioner, then the other, attempt to chin myself with one hand while putting the belt on the pulleys with the other hand. I got the job done by myself, but a few years later, my brother (who had been a professional mechanic a good part of his life) finally gave up and went and got help when a belt broke on his motorhome with the same engine.

And the last one I had to do myself was on a 3/4 ton Chevy van with the 350 V-8 and two of us (the other one being a niece's husband who was a professional mechanic) finally go it on there. I don't think either of us would have ever succeeded alone.

On the other hand, I've changed one on a Ford pickup and one on a Chevy pickup with no problem at all.

 

[Piperflyer]

Make a diagram of the belt around the pulleys before you remove it, so you get it back the way it needs to be. Some vehicles have a diagram on the schroud.

 

[ToadHill]

There should be a diagram of the belt layout on the radiator top cover.

 

[dmccarty]

George,

I just had my changed on the F350. The belt looked good to me and the best I could tell it likely had another 30-50K on it. I'm pretty sure I had it changed early per the manual. Figured if I got 95,000ish miles on it I got my money's worth. I have lost an old style belt and the truck drive 70ish miles per day plus two 1,300 mile trips a year. Tain't worth being on the side of the road.

The old belt is sitting under the back seat as a spare. I don't think its a big effort to change on my truck and the cost from the mechanic was cheap. I can't remember the price but I was pleasently suprised how little it cost for a new belt to be put in.

To put it another way, it was less to put on a new belt than to get the truck towed.

Later,
Dan

 

[chh]

I got the belt for my wife's F-150 from Wal-Mart. Was pretty cheap as I recall. I managed to do it by myself with no problem in about 15 minutes.( a good portion of that staring at everything before I pulled it out, so I would be sure and put it back right the first time). Mine has a diagram under the hood for reference. It would have been a little easier/faster if I had someone to hold the wrench on the tensioner back, but was not really a big deal. I had a stick slide up the belt on and F-250 and flip it off once. 3 guys, a cresent wrench, the diagram, and it was almost dark. It ony took 2 tries to get it then. Sometimes too much help is worse than none.

 

[N80]

Thanks for the help guys. I'll give it a try. I can get some help from a pretty fair mechanic this weekend. It looks like a Gates belt for this truck will run about $30.

 

[ScottAR]

Sometimes it's nice to have a belt tensioner tool. Basicly a long piece of flat
stock with a square drive on the end. Gives plenty of leverage. Most of the time a regular breaker bar will work but sometimes it's too tight. Should be around $20 to buy or about the same deposit on a loaner.

 

[AlanB]

I have gotten too the point where when I notice something like that, I just go ahead and change it, because if I don't, it is garuanteed to break at the most inopportune moment.

That said, they are usually pretty straight forward, make dang sure, the diagram is there, or draw you an excellent one, or a digital pic.

Figuring one out without a diagram, and especially a period of time later, can be extremely trying.

 

[mjarrels]

I had mine changed at Pep boys several years ago, I think the bill was about 120.00 for belt and labor.

mark

 

[Bird]

I just go ahead and change it, because if I don't, it is garuanteed to break at the most inopportune moment.

That's one way to do it. The other way is to buy a spare and put it behind the seat and have the necessary tool(s) in the vehicle and it'll never break. I carried a spare when RVing for 60k miles and it was still in the truck, under the seat, when I got rid of the truck.

 

[mjarrels]

Bird... I'm like you and always have stuff under or behind the seat. I don't change cars and trucks very often and when I do, it's like Christmas all over when I start cleaning out the old and putting in the new vehicle.

mark

 

[dbdartman]

'94 F-150 5.0. I don't think it took 5 minutes, but it may have, I don't really remember (& it was only last summer ). All I can really say with any certainty is there wasn't any drama involved, but an extra hand to hold the tensioner is ALWAYS helpful. I always "exercise" the tensioner after removing the old belt. Sometimes they can be a little stiff.

 

[Jimmyp5]

I have a 99 F150 4x4 5.4 engine, etc... same set up as yours. The routing is on a template on the right side. Being ****, about belts when out hunting in the middle of nowhere I kept spares of most parts around. You get the picture, in the middle of Sandia National Forest on a elk hunt, I manged to change the belt in 30 - 45 minutes as I recall, normal tools and all the distraction of the darn elk of course bugling and of course laughing at me changing it out in a snow storm!

 

[Bird]

Half ton pickups with gasoline engines shouldn't be too bad, but my brother came by yesterday to show me his new 2008 F550 Powerstroke and I couldn't even see if had a fan or serpentine belt there was so much stuff crammed under the hood. I'm sure glad I'm not ever going to be changing that one.

 

[TwinWillows]

I just replaced the S belt on our Tahoe. It was very easy. I used a large pair of waterpump pliers to twist the belt tensioner so that I could remove the old belt. The way mine was routed I did not have to remove anything. I slipped the new one into place on all the pulleys & then used the water pump pliers to twist the tensioner & - done. I ended up replacing the tensioner pulley a little later. Both jobs did not take over 20 min total. The belt was someting like $40 from Advance Auto. I think the pulley was $9...

 

[N80]

There is a diagram on the fan shroud showing the belt route. The fan shroud really is in the way but it looks like it might be harder to remove than just working around it.

So, I'm going to do it myself.....but to be honest, I'm not sure what the belt tensioner looks like. There is a gadget to the left that has a short arm and a pulley wheel on it so I'm assuming that's it. In any case, I'll give it a try. What's the worst that can happen? Don't answer that, BTDT.

I wasn't able to enlist my mechanic this weekend since I was helping him work cows, but it doesn't sound like the second set of hands need be talented hands so I'll enlist my 16 year old son.

I've heard folks say its about a $150 job at a shop so I'm definitely going to do it myself.

Thanks guys.

I'll let you know how it turns out.....and maybe how much a local wrecker tow costs these days!

(I've actually done a good bit of basic engine work in the past, changing water pumps, swapping carbs, changing belts,adjusting valves, bolting on headers, etc.....but that was years ago and before these complicated egnines stuffed into cramped compartments.)