Jump to content
SAU Community

Rb25det Belts Change

shubby0901

By shubby0901,
in Tutorials / DIY / FAQ

 Share

Recommended Posts

shubby0901 Community Regular

shubby0901

Posted
Posted

This is my first DIY so constructive criticism is always appreciated. After much searching online and failing, I thought I’ll write up how to change an RB25DET accessory belts. That is the Air-Con, Power-steering and Alternator belts. If this DIY already exists, all good here is another one.

Disclaimer: I am not a mechanic, I try and work things out using my own knowledge and other peoples DIY to please don’t blame me if anything goes wrong.

Belts I used:
Alternator: Gates Micro-VAT 4PK850
Air-Con: Gates Micro-VAT 4PH915
Power Steering: Gates Micro-VAT 3PK835

Meaning of the numbers:

4: Belt has 4 grooves, this cannot change in the replacement belt
PK: Not sure, don’t think its important
850: Length of belt, you need roughly the same.
All pulley systems have lots of room for adjustment for size of belt so you don’t have to have the exact same one. Have a look at what is currently installed and get something similar in size.

LET THE DIY BEGIN!

Firstly, you need to figure out which belt/s are worn. For me, when I had the steering at full lock with a cold engine, I would get belt squeal as well as when I turned the Air-Con. Therefore I decided to change those, as well as the alternator while I was at it.

When you open the engine bay, you will see your belts such as the pics below.

5_zpsy2qn5xnv.jpg

The the second step is to loosen the alternator pulley which is found on the left side of the engine bay, when facing the car. This will be done by loosening the bolt numbered 1 and then turning bolt number 2. You can then push the alternator towards the engine and loosen it.

2_zpswzcjoiqs.jpg

The next step is the removal of the fan. Using a 10mm spanner, undo the 4 bolts. It helps using WD-40 and then holding a pulley while applying force onto it. Once they are undone, remove the fan.

Once the fan is removed, you need to remove the belt at the very front first. This is the power steering. I believe. To remove this, loosen bolt 3 and then turn bolt 4 to bring the nut away from the holding plate. You can then push the pulley system and loosen the belt. Once loose, the belt can be slid off.

3_zps9ojrbzo8.jpg

The next step is the air-con belt. To remove this, you need to get under the car and remove the underbody protector by removing the 6 screws. Once removed, you will see another bolt near the middle of the car which needs to be loosened. This will allow the tensioner to move and loosen that belt. With the bolt loose, push the tensioner. This might be really tight so use WD-40 and/or a hammer on the block circled, NOT THE PULLEY ITSELF, to move it up. Once this has moved enough, you can pull that belt off too.

4_zpsqonvyfxu.jpg

The last belt to be removed will be the alternator belt. Since you have already loosen it, you can just slide that off too.

Once your belts are off, you can just need to reverse the process and put them back on.

20150928_170135_HDR_zpsaguonbdv.jpg

First alternator belt, don’t tighten this. Next the Air-con belt. Tighten aircon belt tension bolt enough so that belt twists to 90 degrees and nothing more, don’t re-install the under-body protector yet. Install power steering belt and again tighten it so you can just twist it to 90 degrees and tighten the other holding bolt. Next re-install the fan. Once the fan is tight, you can tighten the alternator belt to the same tension.

Start up the car and listen for any noises. Any screeches means the belt it too loose. Power steering will screech at full lock so hold it at full lock for a few seconds. Air-con should screech as soon as you start it if it is loose. Alternator should screech at any point when the car is on.

If any screeches are heard, tighten the corresponding belt using bolts 2, 4 or 5.

Once all belts are tight, you can reinstall the underbody protection as we left it off in case we need to tighten the air-con belt.

Go for a drive and test it out. If any screeching is heard, tighten the belt which causes. Avoid belt squeal eliminators as they are only temporary fixes which make more of a mess than solve the problem.

Final Step: Enjoy your screech-less belts and pulleys :action-smiley-069:!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/460031-rb25det-belts-change/
Share on other sites
  • 2 months later...
shubby0901 Community Regular

shubby0901

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Nice write up - I looked for a guide ages ago when I did mine and couldn't find any so I just thought stuff it and ended up working it out. A guide would have been nice back then :)

Part of the reason I wrote one up. I thought someone somewhere would find it useful.

  • 1 month later...
shubby0901 Community Regular

shubby0901

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hey man, to tighten the alternator belt do I loosen bolt 1 and adjust tightness with bolt 2? Which way am I suppose to be turning bolt 2 to tighten?

Hey,

Sorry for late reply, I was overseas. Yeah you need to loosen bolt 1 so that the whole alternator moves then turn bolt 2. You want the whole alternator moving away from the middle of the engine so from memory and looking at the picture, it should be to the left to tighten, therefore towards the cabin of the car. It moves enough with each turn to be able to see if its tightening or loosening.

  • Like 1
Milkmun Community Regular

Milkmun

Posted
Posted

Hey,

Sorry for late reply, I was overseas. Yeah you need to loosen bolt 1 so that the whole alternator moves then turn bolt 2. You want the whole alternator moving away from the middle of the engine so from memory and looking at the picture, it should be to the left to tighten, therefore towards the cabin of the car. It moves enough with each turn to be able to see if its tightening or loosening.

Thanks mate, yeah took me a while to figure out, was turning both bolts like a mad man and nothing was happening. Had to remove my FMIC piping to get a better view and realised bolt 2 moves the alternator in the slot.

  • 1 year later...
  • 4 years later...
  • 4 weeks later...
shubby0901 Community Regular

shubby0901

Posted
  • Author
Posted
On 10/20/2021 at 6:01 AM, Malar1898 said:

This Guide misses a second Bolt at the Powersteering Pump that needs to be loosened to relax or tension the Belt there.

Its the Bolt fixating the Pump and Adjuster-Screw below the #3 shown here.

Thanks for that! I missed that step

  • 1 month later...
MclarenR33 Newbie

MclarenR33

Posted
Posted

Yo man, been reading your living with an R33 thread, big ups on that!


Wanted to ask a question on this thread - my A/C belt only started making a belt slipping noise when the A/C is turned on. The belt is rotating fine when the A/C is off no squeal, does this lead anyone to believe its the bearing for any reason? or could it be the condenser itself having an issue?

  • 3 years later...
joshuaho96 Veteran

joshuaho96

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, silviaz said:

Does anyone find that they have to tighten their alternator belt once in a while? Mine started squealing again.

Once the belt slips it can very easily cause a cascade that encourages more belt slip. Check the pulleys carefully and see if the grooves have cupped. If it has it's time to replace the pulleys. If the rubber has glazed you also need to replace it. Shouldn't be shiny. From the factory there's a lot of exposed fibers(?) on a v-belt that will go away as it's broken in but some should still remain visible without sticking out significantly like a new belt.

I went through this on my dad's Camry recently. It would keep slipping even after setting the tension higher, only solution was a new belt.

  • Thanks 1
silviaz Experienced

silviaz

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

You can also get belt dressing in a spray can which can help to settle a belt in that otherwise wants to slip.

Did that last time and it was squealing like mad lol. But my belt was loose at the time. I'll check the tension tomorrow, think I checked it a couple of months ago and was fine.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


×
×
  • Create New...