fan belt replacement!

[mrVT]

hey all i have a 2000 sereies 2 vt and i need to change the fan belt on the pullys cause it has cracks on it and i dun think its ever been changed, was wondering if its an easy job changing it and what to look out for, How much roughly do these long belts cost? any help apreciated thanks!

[davway]

pretty easy to change.
just get a spanner onto the idle tension pully and move it to loosen the tension of the belt.
slip the belt off - slip the new belt on.
make sure you have a diagram or photo of how the belt is meant to go as well.
a Gen3 belt was $48.99 so i dont think a V6 belt would cost heaps.

[fitz_vt]

i think the V6 belt is about $39 from repco ..... could be cheaper..... i havent looked in ages.....
but yes as Davway says its easy....

[daron]

15 mm spanner place on idle pulley and push down the belt will loosen off and ya can remove it and replace
now for first timers draw a diagram or take a pic of the path the belt takes or you'll be there for hrs trying to work it out

[batemada]

ecotec pully belt off + no diagram = hours of fun

[pablo]

Fan belt??

[blowen vy]

the belts form repco are about 70 bucks unless no sum were who works there then u can get them for aout 30 sumthink.
but i go 1 from cbc bearings for $27

[sxc_sound]

i bought a blue gates racing belt from supercheap auto, there $27 and thats not on sale, thats the normal price, and they look pretty

[sway9]

ARGH SUPERCHEAP (makes sign of cross) ANTI CHRIST ANTI CHRIST can i ask whats tthe best quality moderately priced belt to get? and by the way i believe there now called Drive Belts

[VD_Cumondoor]

My heap is a 99' VT Series 1, 3.8L ecotec (non super charged). I needed a new drive belt & I thought others might appreciate me sharing the legwork. Note that if you DON'T have Air-Cond, you'll need a much shorter one

Drive Belts: (aka fan belts, although most of us have the "invisible-fan" fitted for performance reasons)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doing a ring-around at Repco, AutoBarn, SuperCheapAuto and Holden in Melbourne today yielded the following:

Autobarn
- Bosch 6PK2825 = (Autobarn part # SP10108) $48

Supercheap Auto
- Bosch 6PK2825 = $31
- Gates "blue" racing belt (marked "6PK2825R / K061115R" on the box, but "K061112" on the belt) = $33

Repco (stocks Dayco but can get in Bosch)
- Bosch 6PK2825 = $62 (definitely NOT trade prices)
- Dayco 6PK2830 = $44 (yeah, I know it's very close to the Bosch number but the Dayco catalogue lists THIS one for my engine*)

Holden Spare Parts
- brand unknown but apparently marked "GMH, made in USA", Holden part # 92056076 = $50.15 std price / $42 trade price
(see pic of larger version under extreme testing : GMH Testing facility

Centrifugal Air Pumps Australia
- Gates "blue" racing belt 6PK2825R = $74 (always nice to find an optimist / opportunist?)

eBay
Gates "blue" racing belt 6PK2825R = $53 (another one who doesn't know how to use a phone)


=> Went to Supercheap of course. I expected the Bosch belt packet to say something encouraging about longevity or alien technology or "something". It says fcuk all! Just like their website. So I kowtowed to the penis and bought the blue one like @sxc_sound did. $2 won't kill me, and my penis isn't that big anyway... And looks like sxc_sound did $5 better than me too (bastard)!


Pics of the above:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've UL'd some pics that might be useful if you're about to DIY for the 1st time. I was surprised to find very little info on the gates belt for a VT on Google. They're all attached to my profile. Let me know if you can't see them.

bosch.v-belt.vs.cogged.jpg (sadly, this is as sexy as the Bosch pics get... ;( )
cheap.imported.drive.belts.jpg (WARNING - do not use these)
dayco.poly-rib.drive.belt.jpg
drive.belt.size.codes.explained.jpg (*Re the Dayco, it's apparently 5mm longer than the Bosch)
ecotec.belt.positioning.jpg (this is what daron was referring to above)
gates.blue.belt_6PK2825.K061115R_packet.back.jpg
gates.blue.belt_6PK2825.K061115R_packet.front.jpg (If the Bosch had "1/3" the waffle, I might have bought it..!)
Holden.VT.tensioner.pulley.replacement_1.jpg (stole that one from someone here I think!)
15mm.spanner.extension.alternative.jpg (DANGEROUS OPTION - get a bit of pipe instead is my suggestion)


Installation:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See ecotec.belt.positioning.jpg That bloody belt is so long there's too many ways it "might go".

And as per the arrow in the pic I stole, you (and/or the gorilla) need to turn it anti-clockwise to slacken off the drive belt before you can slip it off.

Funny - I just got the alternator rebuilt yesterday & decided to save a few $ by removing & refitting it in his car park. I thought I had the belt back correctly and it was only slightly loose. Damn thing kept slipping! Even the auto sparky was scratching his head. Then I got out the manual and yep - I had it in wrong.

Ooohh yeah, another thing re that 15mm spanner you need to put on the tensioner pulley: You better have a LONG spanner or a "friend" - see pic above. I ended up hammering the end of a bit of old pipe to act as a lever...! Worked fine though .


Enjoy....

[pablo]

Good info VD, and never chuck away the old belt. Fold it up and put in the boot for an emergency spare!

[sway9]

if you get stuck and go like a bull at a gate and u take the belt off before you make a diagram like my neighbour did dont fret the belt placement is in the owners manual

[mrVT]

makes life much easier if u have 2 people 1 person to pull back tensioner pulley all the way back with spanner or socket wrench and the other guy putting on the belt on each pulley making sure the lines sit right on pulleyes leaving the middle pulley last to slip on as the other pulleys have lips around them and is much harder to slide on then the middle one.

[VD_Cumondoor]

Thanks All,

I did put the old belt in the boot "just in case". Still, now that I've done that it'll never be needed of course. Murphy was a god, not an optimist is my opinion.

The pipe on the spanner made it easy & for what it's worth, I now have an excuse for carrying a few feet of heavy pipe under the seat..! Only kidding.....

As I'm new here, can someone please let me know if this was the right place for the "waffle" I did? I over-explained a lot in the hopes of making it more easily findable with Google. If so, I'd easily do one about repairing the Bosch alternator too. I just think it might save someone a few bucks and some hours of phone calls. Let me know if I should - and also if the pics I uploaded were accessible. The site seemed to suggest I could "add them to a group" - none of which I had permission to.

[NVE_069]

I remember doin mine after a acco I had got a new belt a month later as the car was readyt o be started again Got it home tryed a few diff ways an we came to the thought it was a bloody SC belt. Funny enough it wasnt lol. Ended up gettn it in the end

[lad79]

How much tension should be on the new belt?

[mrVT]

tension is automatically applied when u pull tension belt pully when u let it go tights the belt up by ittself

[lad79]

how sweets that. cheers.

[gungazza]

i bought a blue gates racing belt from supercheap auto, there $27 and thats not on sale, thats the normal price, and they look pretty

me too $33