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Hi folks. New to Saabnet & need some help with replacing a serpentine belt & pulley for my 1998 900SE. There are several posts here which are helpful but I haven’t found the exact information I need so I’m posting my problems/questions in the hopes that someone can help. I’m attempting this DIY as it’s a second car & want to get the experience as well as save money.
First, the belt shredded so I don’t have the luxury of copying the routing prior to removing the belt. At this point – after jacking up car/removing wheel/etc – I’ve removed old belt debris and checked all pulleys. As I face the engine & belt/pulley system I discovered the top left idler pulley has failed. I’ve read this is the most common serpentine/pulley failure. This is a much smaller pulley in comparison to the other idler pulleys and I’m having trouble identifying it. It has only 2 indented grooves as opposed to the other much larger idler pulley having 5 or 6 indented grooves. I haven’t seen this pulley on Saab’s or any of the sites that sell replacement parts. All replacement pulleys I’ve found online appear much larger in size. Also, it doesnt make sense to me how the belt sat on this pulley - maybe it overlapped? – again my belt shredded so I don’t have the benefit of knowing how the belt set up on this pulley. Does anyone know what part or model number pulley I need to order?
Next, I’m struggling a bit with releasing the tensioner. I purchased the replacement belt (Dayco 5061038)at Autozone and rented a "Great Neck Serpentine Belt Tool" recommended by the tech. I thinks it’s a generic tool & doesn’t appear to be compatible with my saab. Without a belt in place do I simply loosen the tensioner prior to installing the new belt? Or do I need to put pressure on the tensioner even when no belt is in place? Also what tool do I use? Allen wrench? As everyone knows this engine compartment is very tight & hard to see and feel your way around. What I really could use is a picture/“How to†for the tensioner. It seems there is a lot of info about replacing the serpentine belt & most breeze over releasing the tensioner. For those with experience this probably sounds silly but its got me stumped at the moment.
Once I get the tensioner figured out I have several diagrams handy and should be able to figure out how to thread the new belt. If anyone has any additional suggestions for me please let me know.
Thank you
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