I have a saturn vue xe 3.5 v6 2008.
The belt broke cause its been so damn hot in texas. So i go to change it and low and behold its a shit show.
To change this belt u have to take off the engine mount on the passangers side so i do and after getting the mount bracket and coupler off i found a problem.
There a 2 bolt on the mount bracket and 3 bolts on the mount coupler. There are three more bolts that hold the mount to the engine block that’s where the problem comes in. I was able to get one of the bolts out fairly easy but the other one is impossible to get out because there’s no room to extract the bolt it’s just too close to the frame of the car. and even if I could get a wrench in there there’s no way I’ll he able to get the bolt all the way out as there’s just no room.
So if you have any suggestions I’ll be appreciative any help no matter what will be a blessing. Thanks.
That is not the way to replace the serpentine belt out of your vehicule.It must be done from the top of the engine bay.You have to take out the air intake first and then use a long extension and socket to take tension out of the serpentine belt tensioner. This video wil show you how
Thank you for your reply but im sorry to say my Saturn is a 2008. And the belt setup is entirely different. Ill put up the diagram to show you what mine looks like. If you look at the picture the top far left Circle represents the alternator and running off that down towards the bottom of the diagram is the tensioner so it’s just a different set up all together. Thanks.
It would have been better to tow the car to an independant mechanic.How much did they quote for this job? Seems like a lot of work just to replace a belt on a 2008.According to driverside website,labor rates to replace the belt is 30 minutes.
Not that I know but you might want to look around the net a little. It looks like if you take the front wheel off, there is a plastic access panel that allows putting the belt on without removing the mount. Otherwise you jack under the oil pan to support the engine etc. I think I paid $40 to have a guy change the belt on my G6 with the 3.5. Took him about 20 minutes while I waited. My Buicks were a 5 minute job but one hour on my Olds with the service manual procedure so not necessarily routine on everything.
To remove that engine bracket bolt that is blocked by the frame rail raise the engine a little with your jack. You can usually raise or lower an engine 3 to 4 inches without having to disconnect major components.
But then that belt is much easier than many of the old V belt replacement jobs. I seem to recall a power steering belt replacement that required removing 4 other belts to gain access. And if a V belt is removed and reinstalled in the opposite direction of travel it will squeal. You can count on it.
Can I guess that the OP will never allow a belt to stay on a car until it fails from this point on?
The website www.repairpal.com suggests this is a pretty simple job on an XE. By the extra price, it suggests it is more difficult on the XR and Redline versions. But yours is an XE right? hmmm … are you sure you are using the proper factory service manual procedure? It might pay to visit a public library that has that sort of info, or subscribe to the one-car version of AllData. Even a Haynes or Chilton’s manual should cover that procedure, although sometimes those manuals aren’t very clear b/c they cover many model years. It may be you just need to nudge the engine upward a little with a jack to get the clearance, but doing that sort of work without a manual’s help is fraught with potential problems. To move the engine upward on my Corolla with a jack requires loosening more than one of the mounts for example.
Thank you navada you were absolutely right. We thought about doing that ourselves but didn’t know how much we could raise the engine safely without taking any major component off thanks to you raise it up a few inches got the freaking bolt off got the bolt at the bottom off replace the belt and put the ship back together running perfectly fine now thank you again for your help and everyone that posted thank you too.