First job is to jack the car up and support the front on axle stands. Much of the work can only be done from underneath so access is vital. I had also loosed then wheel nuts on the front offside wheel because it would need removing to aid access too.
The cover needs removing first. It is held in place with two bolts though neither are very tight.
Next task is to remove the belt. The belt is held under tension by a tensioner pulley which is effectively a tight spring that holds the pulley tight against the belt. The tensioner must be turned away from the belt until it is loose enough to pull off. Space was too tight to get a socket on it and I didn't have a spanner of the correct size. Typical! I couldn't budge it by hand either, so what to do? Well I got a small piece of wood, held it against the tensioner and smacked it a few times with a hammer to shock it free. I guess the belt being so old, the tensioner has probably spent the last 12 months at the tightest end of its travel and become seized. A few thumps meant I could then push it with my hand and the old belt could be removed. Here it is with the new one.
And a picture of the underside. The old belt looked fine, no cracks or anything.
While I was at it, I decided to remove the tensioner to see if I could clean it properly. I couldn't strip it down any further, but I squirted lots of WD40 into it and exercised its movement a few times and it seemed a lot better. Here it is straight after removal.
Here is an idea of the lengths you need to go to to improve access! I have removed the power steering tank and cooling fluid expansion tank.
Access is still poor though! I thought the squealing noise may be a pulley on the way out so I bought the cheapest one to replace, the idler pulley. Have spun each of the pulleys and found no problems, I thought I'd remove the idler pulley to inspect anyway seeing as I could easily replace it right now.
So, I unscrewed the bolt but there wasn't the room to remove the thing! The bolt is an integral part of the pulley and cannot be removed separately. That put an end to that idea, but considering it felt okay, I didn't think it really needed replacing anyway.
So, put all the various bit back, then try to remember how the belt fits! It was quite challenging getting the belt over all the pulleys, but it feels tighter than the old one.
Having taken the car for a test drive, I am happy to report there is no more squealing noise at all! It used to be very obvious at low revs under load, sounded almost like the engine was pinking, but that has gone too. Success!
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