PCA Forums

I was attempting to add "light mechanical work" to my resume (not really) and save a few labor dollars by installing my own altenador, but i'm having troubles putting the belt back on. I am positive i correctly installed the altenador, but stupid me went to start the car and to see how it worked, but i realized i hadn't put the belt on so obviously the car started but wasn't getting a good charge (was that a ridiculous run on sentence?). So, i pushed and pulled and strained for about an hour last night trying to get the belt back on, but got frustrated when it got dark and quite. I did find out that one of the parts that the belt needed to fit around was on a spring and i could move it in an attempt to get the belt on. That helped some but i still couldn't get the belt to fit around all the appropriate parts. I tried every combination and still couldn't get it to fit. I even loosened up that part with the spring to try and fit it around and then tighten it back, but still couldn't get it around! Therefore, my car is in my driveway with the belt still needing to go around the alt.
I'm thinking there has to be a trick to all this because it's suppose to be an easy installation, and it was except for the belt. So, any mechanics out there wanna help me out before i go nuts?
By the way, the car is a 96 GMC Jimmy V-6, if that helps.

Manual or Power Steering? With AC or without AC?

If you have PS and AC, the text below should help.

Looking at the front from the top, the tensioner - the spring thing - is in the middle and the alternator is on the right, and their is either an AC or idler pulley on the left. The belt goes under the tensioner, over the alternator pulley, and over the AC or idler pulley. From the alternator, the belt heads down, goes halfway around the Power steering pump and up and over the top middle pulley, which is the water pump. Go 3/4ths of the way around the waterpump pulley and then go down and around the bottom (Crankshaft pulley) so the belt is heading to the back of the vehicle. The belt then goes up and over the AC or idler pulley. There should be a decal under the hood that shows the belt routing...

The tensioner (the spring mounted thing) can be moved out of the way by putting a socket wrench on the nut that holds the tensioner pulley and moving it up to give you slack in the belt.

The best way to mount these belts is to line them on all the pulleys except the alternator pulley. Instead of trying to thread it over the Alternator, use one hand to hold the belt under a little tension so it stays put. then relieve the tension at the tensioner with one hand and guide the belt over the alternator pulley with the other.