99 cobra-lost serp belt today-how to loosen tensioner to put on a new one?

[Disneyfun1]

was driving to work this morning and then my battery light on the dash came on. Pulled off the freeway a couple miles down the road and my ps was gone as were my power brakes, but engine was still on. when i pulled over, my serpintine belt was destroyed and anti freeze was leaking all over. I assume the anti freeze was leaking due to no water pump to pull it into the engine, seemed to be coming out the cap area.

Anyways, towed the car home. How do i loosen the tension on the belt tensioner so i can put the new belt on? do i use a big screwdriver or bar to lift it up or down so the belt goes on? is it easy or hard to do? Also, do you think there would be any engine damage since it ran a few after the belt broke? my anti freeze over flow is way down, so i have to fill that, should it be fine after i figure out how to get the new belt on?

 

[wmburns]

There is a square hole in the belt tensioner that will accept a standard breaker bar. Use the breaker bar to release the spring tension and get enough free room to remove/install the belt.

It is not hard but sometimes it does help to have two ppl. One to release the tension the other to route the belt. Expect to do some "grunting" if the breaker bar is not long enough.

Also, the autoparts store will rent/sell a tool make for the job.

Make sure to remove all the left over pieces of the belt that may be wrapped around the pulleys. Check each of the idler pulleys for frozen or worn bearings. Replace any that do not spin smoothly.

If a lot of coolant has been lost, it will be necessary to perform the "burp" procedure.

See post 4 for the 4V DOHC coolant fill procedures. It's can be a PIA.

http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/822350-1997-cobra-cooling-problem.html

Did the engine overheat?

 

[Disneyfun1]

I dont have a square hole on mine, from what i read, i have a new one that was put on after the 99 fix, so im not sure how to loosen it up.

also, i never saw the temp gauge go up high at all, and there was more in the bottle before i got home, so it must of burped more while cooling down and it was all wet at the cap.

 

[wmburns]

If the coolant sensor is not in contact with the coolant, it will read LOW. Likely there was air in the coolant system before the event began. This would explain why the coolant boiled over while the temperature did not show hot.

Can you post pictures? I can't image with how much spring pressure is actual in the tensioner that there isn't a solid method to positively release it.

 

[Disneyfun1]

I got it on. had to take a screw and screw it into the hold in front of the pully, then remove the black metal guard in front of the tensioner to have better access. used a big screwdriver and finally got it all the way down. added coolant to the bottle and ran it for a while. all seems good now.