Please explain how to replace this drive belt. Please be detailed and specific. I have a serpertine tool from an auto supply store. From what others had told me it would be simple. However, I removed the coolant reservoir, and it was not obvious
what to do. I was looking for a pulley with a spring to release the belt. I don’t know which pully or which bolt to try to loosen.
There should be a sticker under the hood that shows how the belt is routed & where the tensioner is located.
If all else fails you can pick up a 2000 Taurus Haynes repair manual at any parts store.
Best way to do this sort of thing is to read the procedure in the Haynes manual FIRST & then decide if the repair is one that you can do yourself or not.
Haynes is’nt the best manual around, but it’s certainly worth the 20 bucks it will cost you.
Thanks for the reply. If anyone else can advise, please do so.
I agree that you should get the repair manual.
The tensioner pulley will probably one on a mounting bracket that you can see does not directly drive anything. It will often have a 1/2" square hole in its bracket for insertion of the tool or a 1/2" drive flex handle (breaker bar) to crank it loose and release the belt tension.
The tensioner must not be allowed to snap back when the belt is removed as there is a lot of spring power on it.
You really should get the book because I don’t know how your car is set up. I recently used a Chilton’s manual to change the belt on my '94 Lincoln. You can usually check them out at the library for free.
The tensioner pully is located towards the rear of the engine compartment. As mentioned above it should be identified with the belt routing on a sticker under the hood. You want to place the appropriate wrench from the tool kit on the tensioner pulley bolt head and carefully rotate it to release the tension on the belt. The tensioner is spring loaded and if it slips and snaps back you may get hert if you are not carefull.
So Be carfull that the wrench does not slip, as sometimes it is helpfull to have a helper so you can use 2 hands on the wrench while your helper slips the belt off/on the pullley.