1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
I wanted to share my experience with replacement of the Serpentine idler pulleys and belt over the weekend. I have a 1998 900SE 2.0 Turbo. The job is not bad if you have all the tools available.
If you have a Torx head bolt on the large pulley above the crank then you will need to make the following tool due to the lack of clearance from the pulley to the body (lack of clearance is a understatement). Go to Lowes or Home depot and buy a drill bit insert (1/4 or 5/16 hex size) Torx T40. This will be small 1.5 to 2.0 inch long bit that is made to go into a magnetic holder on a drill. Believe it or not this bit is too long to fit beside the pulley. You must also have a good pair of vise grips (preferably the Vise Grip brand) to lock this bit in after you make the bit shorter. Lock the new bit perpendicular in the vice grips with about 1/8 of an inch of the T40 side hanging out of the jaws. Take a sharpe marker and mark the other side that is hanging out on the jaws of the vice grips. Take out the bit and lock it in the grips parallel with the Torx to the inside of the jaw (we have to grind off the bit, up to the sharpe mark to make it fit the limited clearance). Take the vice grips with the bit to a bench grinder (don’t even think about using a hack saw to cut the bit, won’t touch the hardened steel) and grind the allen key shaped side to the mark. Place in water to cool and re-grip to lightly grind off the steel edge melts from the process. Now you have the tool to do the job with, which is a midget T40 bit. Proceed on.
1.The first thing to do is to remove the air filter housing top by opening up all the clips. Then remove the air filter. 3, 10mm nuts, yes 3 one is hiding under the bottom of the housing, hold the lower housing in place.
2. Next you will need to park the serpentine tensioner in the retracted position. To do this you will need a ¼ inch drill bit and a ½ inch socket break bar. Stick the drill bit in the tensioner park holes in the side toward the master cylinder. Put this in just slightly and do not come out the other side. Put the break bar in the ½ square slot in the top of the tensioner. The break bar must be inserted the way that makes the pivot move left to right toward the front tires. Carefully pull back toward the front of the car (watch the wiring harness at the head) till the holes align in the tensioner park and slide the drill bit through the holes and gently release the break bar until the drill bit hold the tensioner parked.
3. Make sure that you have a picture of the belt routing before removing the belt. If you do not you should draw it out for reference when reinstalling the belt. Remove the belt.
4. Take the midget T40 and lock it into the jaws of the large vise grip perpendicular with about 1/8 inch of the T40 hanging out of the jaws. You will need to lock this as tight and you can squeeze it together to lock. Do a test by placing the vise grips in the tight spot on the side of the pulley and insert the bit into the T40 female part of the pulley retention bolt on the large idler above the crank. Do not confuse this with the tensioner pulley that has a T40 also. The pulley I am referring to is plastic and not metal like the tensioner. Make sure that the T40 bit fully engages the T40 bolt thoroughly. This is very important because if you strip this out the engine will have to be pulled to drill out the bolt. The bolt is standard and counter clockwise will remove it. Once you break it free you will have to remove it with your two index fingers (very slow). Make sure that both washers come off with the old unit. Take the new unit with the two washers and new bolt and take of the backside washer and place it on the shaft on the head of the engine. Take the bolt, outer washer and pulley as a unit and lower it into the engine bay. Using your two index fingers and have you wife take a large flat screwdriver and wedge between the body and the bolt head with light pressure you will have to work to start the bolt to thread. Thread it up all the way by hand before inserting the tool. You will have to do this due to lack of clearance. Then tighten the nut. The hard part is over.
5. Replacing the upper grooved stationary pulley is easy. Use a 13MM closed end wrench to remove the bolt and make sure that you note the orientation of the pulley, look at each side and note which one is out. Put the new pulley on just like the old one came off and tighten the bolt.
6. Get under the car and remove the 8 mm bottom bolt of the side splash shield and then the 10mm and 8mm upper bolts beside the strut that hold the shield on. You can do this procedure with or without the car jacked up and passenger side wheel removed.
7. Route the belt per the drawing. The AC pulley is tricky to get aligned with the v-rib of the belt. After the belt is routed put your break bar back into the tensioner and put pressure and remove the ¼ drill bit used to park the unit and gently release the pressure on the tensioner and watch the alignment of the belt on the pulleys, center up if necessary. Do a last minute check of the v-rib alignment (especially the AC pulley). I recommend cranking the car with the Air filter housing off to test the belt. After you run the engine look at your v-rib alignment again and reinstall the air filter housings.
You are now done. Please note that my SAAB dealer said that he had the large pulley with the Torx head or the hex head bolt. I ask them is the hex head would work and they said yes. I wanted the Hex due to I knew I could get a wrench on it. I tried to use the new bolt only to discover a lack of clearance to get it into place. Saab must have made a VIN year change and my 1998 that required the mushroom Torx head design bolt for clearance purposes. I hope this helps. I wanted to write this to share some light on the special tool necessary to do the job. I read another posting that said it was a T30 but it is not. I found this out after grinding a T30 and I really needed a T40 to do the job. I plan to make a special tool by taking a flat piece of 1 inch wide steel and welding my T40 midget bit to it. I think this will work better than the vise grips and have better visibility. Rockauto.com carries a Gates serpentine belt for less than $15.00 and Eeuroparts.com has the pulleys at the best price.
posted by 66.79.80...
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
