Serpentine Belt

[jbarhorst2]

Thanks in advance for the help.

I tried to change the serpentine belt on my wife's RX300 yesterday with frustrating results. I loosened the top bolt on the alternator and loosened what appeared to be an adjustment or tensioning bolt that was kind of hidden under the alternator. This loosened the belt very slightly, but not enough to remove it. I am apparently missing a bolt somewhere, but I haven't yet found it.

Can anyone tell me what bolts I need to loosen to change the serpentine belt that drives the AC and alternator?

Thanks

Tom

[jgr7]

I'll have to look but most serpentine belts have an spring loaded idler pulley that you put a socket on and push one way and it relieves tension on the belt, then you just take off the belt and put the new one on in the reverse order.

[jbarhorst2]

Thanks for the help, but unfortunately the RX does not have the spring loaded pulley. There is an adjustment bolt to set the tension.

I believe the bolt below the adjuster needs to come out also, but I am not sure yet.

Thanks

Tom

[jbarhorst2]

Well I answered my own question today. Even though I really did not have a good sight line to see what that other bolt did, I loosened it. After that I was able to adjust the belt tension very easily. Apparently it is a lock bolt of some sort.

So, for those of you who are going to change your own belt on an RX300 (or probably an ES300 since the engine is the same) there are 3 bolts on the alternator you must loosen to remove and reinstall the serpentine belt.

Tom

[jgr7]

Thanks for the info.

Jeff

[jimmouse]

My 01 RX300 also making some noise during cold morning. I am thinking about changing it myself. Could you post some instructions or pics so I can see if I am able to do that without professional tools?

Thanks a lot.

Jim

[jbarhorst2]

My digital camera is being borrowed right now, but I can walk you through it if you want.

[RX in NC]

Since the so-called "serpentine belt" in my wife's 2000 RX300 is clearly visible by looking down into the engine compartment on the passenger side, I assumed that this was the only external belt to change. But calling NAPA this morning to check belt availability and price, I was told that there are actually two belts (and neither of them truly serpentine) in this vehicle:

1. the AC/Alternator belt, and

2. the Power Steering belt.

I've only noticed the AC/Alternator belt previously, and my wife's out doing some last-minute shopping right now so I can't walk to the garage and open the hood and look for it.

Have any of you who've changed the AC/Alternator belt yourself also changed the Power Steering belt at the same time? I haven't come across any reference to this belt here on the RX forum. Where is it? I swear I've never seen a second belt on her vehicle. But then again, I didn't know it had one. The vast majority of vehicles these days only have the one serpentine belt....

Thanks for any enlightenment you can provide. I'd like to change these belts over the holiday weekend before my wife takes off in her RX to visit her family in Florida early next week.

[jbarhorst2]

As you look down into your engine compartment, you can easily see the 1st belt.

Now, look lower, closer to the engine, and closer to the firewall. You will see the second belt. You're right, they are not truly serpentine belts, but they are multi-rib belts similar in construction to the serpentine belts.

I have not changed this second belt, but I would assume it would be much easier to change from below. It may be required to change from below. I just have not looked.

Tom

[RX in NC]

Yep, when my wife returned home on Christmas Eve afternoon I spotted the power steering belt about five seconds after raising the hood. And I agree with you, this belt would probably be easier to change from underneath the vehicle.

Both belts are original at about 78,000 miles now, so it's time to think about replacing them. She's in Florida with the vehicle now, so this task will have to wait until January (and a stretch of warmer weather as well). I'll probably wind up replacing them when I do the 80,000 mile oil-and-filter change.

[RX in NC]

jbarhorst2,

Can you describe exactly where the three bolts are that must be released to change the AC/Alternator belt? I can easily see the one on the alternator that's probably closest to the radiator, but I don't see the other two. And did all three bolts require the same metric socket size? Thanks for any input you can provide.

[ghong001]

I changed the alternator belt on my RX300 not too long ago.

1. There is one bolt on the top that is easily visible.

2. Next there is the adjuster screw that is almost on the opposite side (towards the radiator) of the first bolt.

3. Just below the adjuster bolt is another mounting bolt.

I would just slightly loosen bolt # 1 and #3 (above) and the start to loosen the adjusting bolt(#2). As you do so you will see the tension release on the alt belt.

The sockets used were between 12mm to 16mm. I did need to use some stubby ratchets as there was no room in certain areas to get the full size ratchets towards the lower part of the alternator.

I tried to change the power steering belt myself by taking off the right front wheel. Upon doing so there was one bolt readily accessible in a slotted groove. After I loosened that bolt the pump would still not move. Upon further examination I saw other bolts that had to been loosened, but there was no room to get to them.

If it's only the alternator belt that you want to change it's not that difficult.

If you want to change both belts, unless someone can post the procedure, it might be worth it to take it to a shop as you need to take the alt belt off to get to the power steering belt. At the shop hopefully someone can observe the mechanic and see how the steering belt comes off and post the procedure.

On a side note, the reason I changed the alternator belt was that it started to make a high pitched whining noise which later changed to a rather loud grinding noise. It almost sounded as if the bearing on the alternator was bad and I thought that the alternator needed to be changed. Fortunately the belt solved the problem and she's back to normal.

HTH

GH

[RX in NC]

Thanks for the details. I'm definitely going to replace the AC/Alternator belt, and while I'm in there I'll study the limited access to the Power Steering belt which you described above. If I can figure out a way to change this belt, I'll post the details here. Since the vehicle's currently in Florida for the remainder of the holidays, it will probably be a couple of weeks before I have the opportunity to perform this procedure.