After all of my alternator woes, I have now finally realized that my belt is simply wrong, at least, according to this diagram on my 97 Disco SE7... I could kick myself. I guess the guy before my must've messed with the belt some...


Anyway, so, I'd like to correct it. Problem is, according to that diagram, I need to be able to slide my belt inbetween the fan pulley and the bottom one. Problem is, there is no room to slide it inbetween (See picture) so....what do I do? How do I slide the belt intween them so I can install it correctly? Pull of one of the pulleys? Which one? How?

 

Mine fits. You can take a 15mm (as I recall) long handle box end wrench and move the idler tension pulley (pushing against the tension).

 

I'm talking about the space between these two...



There is literally no room to slide the belt between the two and according to the diagram, I need to slide it between these two from my alternator.

 

Sorry, my software is blocking your picture. If you are speaking about the pulley on the tensioner, it can be moved with a wrench. Since I can't see your picture, which parts are involved? Clockwise it would be over alternator, under water pump clutch pulley, over the power steering pump, under the crank pulley, over the idler pulley, over the AC clutch, and back on top of the alternator.

 

IIRC it is a tight fit, but you should be able to kinda "roll press" it through.

Is there literally no gap between your two pulleys?

 

The crank and the waterpump.

 

There is no gap... I can't feel any with my fingers so sliding the belt through and knowing that the fan is attached to the water pump pulley, there's seemingly no way...

 

I think you're approaching it from the wrong angle. There has to be room to feed the belt through. Take a step back and give it a second look.

Do you think the pulley is the wrong size? Or possibly, bent?

 

Fan clutch off for more access?

 

I just did mine recently and I was quite surprised at how tight it was there but it was possible and I did it. It's certainly tighter than any other application I've dealt with. I can't recall if I ended up working it in between from the front or if I bent the belt and pushed it between the running surfaces. Either way, it should go, it's just tight. I did not have the fan/clutch installed and the rad shroud was also removed so I had a lot more room to work than you...and it was still tight so I imagine you're having tons of fun with this. Good luck.