Independence

The day didn't turn out quite like I'd expected.

The objective for today was to install the belt kit for the Caravan. It had arrived on Wednesday, but there was no time to do anything with it that night or the next. It was left for today.

It wasn't my intent to spend the entire day doing it, but then again, it never is. These projects just tend to take over sometimes, especially the ones where I'm wading into deep and unknown waters.

There's also the prep work that ends up taking far longer than I'd planned. It's important to have proper lighting in the engine compartment for things like this, so the plan was to use the halogen worklights on their tripods. But since they were cheap models, one of the extender poles wasn't working properly: the nylon tightener, which was somehow supposed to not slip when placed inside the metal tube, slipped. Wonder of wonders. Not sure how they figured that was ever going to work. I drilled some holes in it and stuck some copper pins in place, then roughed up the nylon in an attempt to create more friction, and it worked. Mostly.

Let there be light.

First order of business was reading the instructions. Then reading them again. Then laying out the pieces so they could be identified. Then reading the directions again. Then figuring out which tools were needed. Then reading the directions again. Then looking at my watch to see how long it had taken to get this far.

Too long!

Then it occurred to me that it would be nice to have a bit of room to work in, so the van was moved half-way out of the garage to give me lots of floor space to scatter tools and things; then because it might be necessary to crawl under the car to reach things that weren't accessible from the top, and there isn't much space between the bottom of the car and the floor, the jack was set up and the car was lifted up a bit and then it was time to ... disconnect the battery.

Note to self: always disconnect the battery. Sticking one's hands inside the engine compartment into dark areas where one cannot see where one's hands are going, is a sure formula for disaster when there is electricity around. Or rotating parts.

Next, set up the halogen next to the engine compartment (with the hood up!) so it is possible to actually see what is going on.

Then re-read the directions. Again. What was the first step again? All these distractions have gotten me confused.

Oh, yes. Locate the tensioner pulley. Turn the tensioner pulley bolt to loosen the belt, then take it off. Check. Then remove the tensioner mounting nut to remove the tensioner. Um ... I can't even see that bolt. It's hidden behind the exhaust manifold, below and to the rear of the engine.

Could I see it if I remove the black mounting plate that's holding the alternator? Perhaps. Let's give it a try. OK, the mounting plate is actually two mounting plates, one supporting the other. Need to unbolt the first one, then unmount the alternator, then unmount the second mounting plate, then ...

Hmmm. It's not moving. Must be more bolts holding it on. Oh, wait. The tensioner bolt is holding it on! OK, scrap that idea. Gotta get the tensioner off from down below.

Time to crawl underneath.

Oooh. Still can't see anything. There's a splash guard in the way, as well as the power steering pump. Trying to reach my arm up and around things to find the nut - nope, can't reach it.

Might be able to reach it if I move the power steering pump out of the way. So it gets unbolted. One, two, three, four, five bolts later, it finally comes off. OK, now I can see the tensioner nut. Gonna be hard to reach way up into their. And the exhaust manifold is too close to use the socket wrench. Going to need the universal joint. And the extender. Still difficult, though, because the ratchet can't turn very much without hitting something. Millimeter by millimeter, it finally turns. It finally comes off! And promptly drops into the nether regions of the engine compartment above my head, into a gap between two metal pieces. It takes a bit of blind feeling with my fingers to locate it.

But - Success! The old tensioner is off!

The old idler pulley is much easier to get off. One bolt loosened, and there it is.

I take the two pulleys over to the workbench to place them next to the new ones, just to compare them. The new ones look really cool - grooved and black and shiny. The old ones look ... old. And shiny. Not shiny-new but shiny-smooth, like How on earth did the belt ever stay on those pulleys?

Now to put the new ones on!

Again, the new idler is simple. One bolt tightened down, and it's done.

And the tensioner shouldn't be too hard, now that I know how it goes on. Just another trip underneath the car to get the nut placed properly, and it's on. Oops! Forgot to put the alternator mounting plate back on. Took the tensioner back off again, put the mounting plate in place, then remounted the tensioner. OK, that was easy; now for the power steering pump. One, two, three, four, five bolts in place, tightened. Done.

Back up top to put the alternator back where it belongs. Put the second mounting plate back on. Then the alternator. Done.

Now for the belt!

Weaving the belt through the myriad of pulleys isn't easy, especially since there are also lots of wires and tubes and hoses in the way. Took me nearly half an hour. Then it was time to check the directions again because it's important to know how to get the belt on now that it won't slide over the slick, smooth metal of the old pulleys. There's gotta be some serious slack here or it won't work.

OK, the directions say to leave the belt off the idler pulley and then rotate the tensioner pulley down to make some slack so the belt can be slid over the idler pulley, then let up on the tensioner and it'll be set.

Right.

Took the 15mm end wrench (there's no room for the socket) and put it on the tensioner pulley bolt and pulled on it to rotate the pulley assembly and ...

Ow! That's hard! The spring in the tensioner is really tight! I can't hold the wrench for more than a few seconds before it becomes too painful. And I can't just let go, either, or it snaps my hand back against the alternator mounting bracket. I try it several more times, but eventually decide that this just won't work. More leverage is needed.

But there are no breaker bars (or pipes) for leverage.

Time for a trip to Home Depot!

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One hour later, armed with a 12-inch long piece of 1-inch steel pipe, I'm ready to try again. This time, the wrench (with its pretty steel pipe slipcover) is much easier to move, and the pulley assembly rotates all the way to the stop-point; but it just isn't quite enough. The belt still won't slide over the idler, no matter how hard I try. And I do try.

Arg!

Now what?

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The only possibility that comes to mind is loosening the alternator; it has a little bit of rotary play, so if I disconnect the top bolt from the mounting plate, it might rotate enough to allow a little slack. So pull the bolt, shift the alternator a smidgen, and now the belt slides. Right. On. To. The. Idler.

Yay!

(Of course, now the alternator will be impossible to put back into position, right?)

Oddly enough, the alternator slips right back into place, and the bolt slides in. I tighten it down. And it's done.

The new belt is on.

No more worrying about belts sliding off in the rain.

And I'm exhausted.

(Pictures are here.)