Boston Strong
New Member
- Joined
- May 26, 2013
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 2
- City, State
- Boston, MA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2002 Eddie Bauer V8
Hello all, I've been a member for quite a while and have learned a lot here from wheel bearing replacement (front and rear) to intake manifold replacement to transmission issues and, ultimately, replacement. I am grateful to all those who took the time to post and help me and others out. Hopefully I can pay it forward with my 1st post.
My '02 4.6L threw the belt a few days ago, leaving me in a bit of a pickle as I was off the main road and about 5 miles from the nearest parts store. I was lucky enough to find someone who would deliver the new belt to me (!). Luckily, I had a good supply of tools on hand and installed the new belt in a parking lot. When I finally started it up, there was a new and unfriendly sound for a few seconds. I quickly shut it off and checked for pieces of the old belt or a stray cat under the hood. Neither was found and the noise eventually went away.
I drove about 50 miles home without incident, thinking that I had lucked out. When I started it up the next morning, the sound was back and worse. Again, it lasted for a while and went away. I turned on the AC and the mystery was solved. The noise was back, worse than ever. What to do? I use my Ex for work every day and had a full schedule with no room for down time.
Once again I turned to this forum for help and ideas. I definitely couldn't afford to spend the time to replace the components as well as all the flushing, vacuuming, refilling and recharging necessary to do a proper repair.
I found a few posts about bypassing the AC and decided that was my best option until I could find the time.
After reading quite a few posts here as well as checking YouTube, I came up with a lot of info for older models and 4.0Ls, but none for my application. I did use some of the info for F150s with 4.6L and 5.4L, but mine has a couple of extra idler pulleys on the driver's side.
After several trips to local parts stores, I came up with this solution and it works great.
I removed the upper fan shroud and fan just to make things easier this time. Definitely worth the effort, IMO.
I replaced the idler pulley above the belt tensioner with a grooved one of the same diameter, as the grooved side of the belt will now ride on the pulley. There were no clearance issues at all with a Carquest/Dayco #89130 idler pulley.
After measuring with a piece of twine I tried 3 different belts, finally arriving at the perfect length of 84" and a Duralast #840K6 did the trick. The photos show that the belt needs to run on the outside of the new idler pulley, to the tensioner, then directly to the damper pulley. Route the belt from there the same as the stock diagram.
Works like a charm and I bought myself some time with a relatively easy fix. Luckily, my power windows still work!
My '02 4.6L threw the belt a few days ago, leaving me in a bit of a pickle as I was off the main road and about 5 miles from the nearest parts store. I was lucky enough to find someone who would deliver the new belt to me (!). Luckily, I had a good supply of tools on hand and installed the new belt in a parking lot. When I finally started it up, there was a new and unfriendly sound for a few seconds. I quickly shut it off and checked for pieces of the old belt or a stray cat under the hood. Neither was found and the noise eventually went away.
I drove about 50 miles home without incident, thinking that I had lucked out. When I started it up the next morning, the sound was back and worse. Again, it lasted for a while and went away. I turned on the AC and the mystery was solved. The noise was back, worse than ever. What to do? I use my Ex for work every day and had a full schedule with no room for down time.
Once again I turned to this forum for help and ideas. I definitely couldn't afford to spend the time to replace the components as well as all the flushing, vacuuming, refilling and recharging necessary to do a proper repair.
I found a few posts about bypassing the AC and decided that was my best option until I could find the time.
After reading quite a few posts here as well as checking YouTube, I came up with a lot of info for older models and 4.0Ls, but none for my application. I did use some of the info for F150s with 4.6L and 5.4L, but mine has a couple of extra idler pulleys on the driver's side.
After several trips to local parts stores, I came up with this solution and it works great.
I removed the upper fan shroud and fan just to make things easier this time. Definitely worth the effort, IMO.
I replaced the idler pulley above the belt tensioner with a grooved one of the same diameter, as the grooved side of the belt will now ride on the pulley. There were no clearance issues at all with a Carquest/Dayco #89130 idler pulley.
After measuring with a piece of twine I tried 3 different belts, finally arriving at the perfect length of 84" and a Duralast #840K6 did the trick. The photos show that the belt needs to run on the outside of the new idler pulley, to the tensioner, then directly to the damper pulley. Route the belt from there the same as the stock diagram.
Works like a charm and I bought myself some time with a relatively easy fix. Luckily, my power windows still work!
