Hey all,
I was just giving the old truck a once over and I noticed that my serpentine belt has a lot of cracks in it. I've heard that these thing don't usually go south on their own but I would rather not be stuck on the side of the road unexpectedly. Is it something that should be replaced every so often? Is it something that an so so do-it-youselfer can accomplish? Thanks a lot.

Regards

 

Every 100,000 miles is a good interval for this.
The belt will run you about $35 and is cheaper than tow truck so go for it.
Put a wrench on the belt tensioner pulley nut and loosen the tensioner NOT the nut.
Slip the old belt off and then release the tensioner SLOWLY.
Say extra special attention to the belt routing, I highly recommend taking pictures with your digital camera for reference later.
There should be a belt diagram on the front of the truck under the hood, otherwise you can go to www.atlanticbritish.com, scroll to the bottom of the page and find the "tech tips" and then look up "belt routing"
You can buy your belt at AutoZone, NAPA, Advance Auto, almost anywhere.
Buy the best you can afford.
If you want you can save the old one for a emergency but it really is not needed.
Installation is reverse of removal.
I suggest that you get it around the crank pulley first and then work your way up from there.
~30 min DIY job.
Putting it back on is the hard part.
You may need to spin a pulley by hand to get the new belt to slip onto it as the new belt will be shorter than the old stretched out one.

 

Yes very easy and remember when we say loosen the tensioner pulley you put a wrench on the nut and turn it clockwise this will move the whole pulley up (it's spring loaded) and then you can pull off the belt. The Rave CD has the procedure but you do not need to remove your viscous fan. Just work around it. My new belt is so much quieter than the old stock belt. That thing was terrible.

Also there are 2 belt lengths depending if you have ACE or not.

 

Good point, thank you.

 

Hey there -- not sure whether there's a rule about linking to other forums, but there's a great write-up on serpentine belt replacement (with photos) here:

http://www.houstonlandroverclub.com/...erpentine.html

Moderator: feel free to delete if I'm breaking the rules.

I changed my serpentine belt this weekend and it's unbelievably easy!

Ed

 

Every 50,000 to 60,000 miles or when there are more the 2 or 3 cracks per running inch of the belt.
What about your tensioner and both idler pulleys, they also need to get changed at least every 90,000 plus miles

 

Not sure what it is, but it's not a Discovery.

 

Looks like my Disco II.

 

The magic 8 ball says.... YES

Good preventative maintenance!

 

Don't worry about it, you are fine.