92' Mazda 323 SE Hatchback AC belt making me insane

Maintenance/Repairs
1

I have a 92 Mazda 323 Hatchback which the alternator belt shredded on. It appears that in order to replace the alternator belt I need to first take off the AC belt. Problem is I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get this AC/Oil Pump belt off. According to the .pdf service manual I have the belt deflection adjustment bolt is vertically oriented, but the actual part in my car in no way looks like what is actually on the car (the alternator belt diagram is 100% accurate though). The vertically oriented bolt that is there does not look like to me that it is connected to the tensioning linkage. Above the AC compressor is something that looks like a jacking bolt for adjusting the belt tension, but not matter how much I turn it the belt does not deflect the belt at all, I’ve loosened the pivot bolt, and all the other mounting bolts that I can see and this thing still won’t budge at all. I have no idea what I’m doing wrong. Here is the diagram in the book, does anyone know how to remove this belt and why the service manual diagram looks different than the actual car?

Here is a picture of what is actually on the car in the area circled on the diagram at the bottom:

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/5898/originaluc.jpg

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/765/original4o.jpg

(the “jacking screw tensioner” looking bit would normally be where that L bracket is on the right deep down in the engine bay (in the 2nd image), just above the pulley where my flashlight is shining, but I have it removed for now when i was trying to get the thing to budge at all)

This is the same area in the service manual diagram, the belt routing in my car looks most similar to the diagram on the right going around 3 pulleys instead and not 2.

http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/3151/drivebelt.jpg

How on earth do I get this belt off?

2

Have you loosened A and B?

3

That’s the thing A and B don’t actually exist on the actual car. What is on the diagram and what is actually there is completely different. You can use the dipstick as a point of reference to compare my photos to the diagram.

4

If the power steering pump pulley is attached with bolts I would suggest that you remove it to gain access to the hardware involved with attaching the pump.

5

In fact, is there an access hole in the pulley?

6

Are you sure you’re looking at the right engine/year in whatever manual you have? You also look to be missing a PS fluid reservoir.

7

There is no access hole in the pulley, its just a flat piece of metal inside the hub, in fact the whole thing is nuts. You might have to get it off from the back but I’m not sure. The pivot bolt for the pump (where it rotates around to adjust the belt tension) that I know does need to be loosened is actually BEHIND the pulley where it is almost impossible to get to. I was lucky in that the combination wrenches I have were just barely skinny enough to reach it by going in between the pulley and the pump in that like 1 cm gap. This service manual is supposed to cover my model year, everything else in the manual is pretty much bang on accurate, this is the first time it has not matched what is actually on the car.

Here is the power-steering pump itself and what it looks like without everything attached to it.

https://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?A=NSP826013_0184536156&An=599001+101992+50042+2042007

8

Your link shows access holes in the pullley!