PROPER BELT REMOVAL

[sk94gs]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MX-3.com:<BR><STRONG>All current Mazda engines are NON-interference. You do not have to worry about the motor getting damaged if the betl brakes. The only damage that could occur is the belt snapping and hitting somehting and causeing a dent or crack in the plastic housings.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>That's good to know, I always wondered what kind of damage there would be if the timing belt ever broke!

[bslenderpeak]

The mechanic doing it that quick probably just stretched the hell out of it(it is after all your car and not his) I've don the timing belt on my car(therefore taken the belts off) There are some pictures as I recall in the online shop manual. It's really Identical to any 4 cyl import. It's got the same style setup as any of them there are adjusters on the front and on the back. On the front: loosen the bolt hidding behind the power steering pulley(facing the passengers side of the car). also loosen the topmost, furtherst to the rear bolt on the power steering pump(it will hinge as you say on this bolt and wont do anything if you don't loosen it). There is one more bolt that is the one facing the front of the car, it is located just below the power steering pulley and above the AC pulley. I did all of this myself and I persuaded mine a little with a small dead blow hammer for it to finnaly loosen. the rear belt is 10 times harder to do you have to do the same with the alternator. You have One large bolt that HAS TO BE LOOSENED and you can barely reach it from completely under the car(ramps). the head of the bolt faces the drivers side of the car. You also have an adjuster on there Identical to the front one. If you do this yourself buy a tube of never cease. It's available by different name at many or all parts stores. Most of the time a copper color tube/jar. If you use this you'll be able to adjust these things in the future when dealing with the water pump, timimg belt, AC, power steering, alternator. Good luck

[bslenderpeak]

BTW it is a horrible pain in the a-- job, don't feel bad about bringing it to someone for $80 also the timimng belt marks are extremely close, be sure (if you pay someone to do it) that the car runs perfectly when you get it back. make sure if you change it yourself you get the belt deflection right or you'll be replacing it next month

[bslenderpeak]

I'm quite positive there is a tensioner on the Alternator(the long skinny bolt). As I recall it faces the firewall. It looks just like the front one and has either 1 or 2 lockdown bolts just like the front. The big problem with adjusting this thing is that you need to loosen the big bolt that is at the bottm of the Alt. the head of the bolt is hard to get at it's towards the middle of the engine, the threads are towards the pass. side THIS IS THE HINGE for the Alt., you don't have much room, and it is SUPER on there! I used a small breakerbar and hurt the s--- out of my shoulder for a couple of weeks(I also have a pretty big ste of shoulders). If I were to do it again I would heat and bend a big breaker bar so I could get at it better. I have two more things to say 1. is if the Alt. is Identical you should not need a larger belt, it is imparative that the mechanics of the tensioner operate. If the belt is too tight you will burn up your alt. bearings or squeel/ too lose it will squeel or come off 2. is sorry for f---ing with you about the caddy I hope the job goes well