I need to change the serpentine belt on my 1995 Z24 Cavalier 2.3L, how would I go about doing this? Should i take off the wheel and work from there or what? I have never changed a belt befor so any tips are wlecome.

There should be a pulley that isn't really hooked up to anything (power steering, water pump, etc.) that would be the belt tensioner pulley. Using a breaker bar with the appropriate sized socket, turn the nut on the pulley towards the opposite side where the belt travels to loosen the tension on the belt. Unstring the belt, and reinstall using the diagram that should be under the hood.

Removal of the wheel is not really necessary.

even better, just dug out my repair manual...

on the 2.3 engine, use a 13mm drive tool or a special belt removal tool to rotate the tensioner clockwise. while holding the tensioner back, remove the belt from around one pulley. release the tensioner, and remove the belt from the remaining pulleys.

to install, position the belt around the pulleys in the proper routing with the exception of one pulley. it's easiest to keep the belt off the easiest pullet to access (ie alt pulley). hold the belt tight in one hand and useint the proper tool for the engine, t\rotate the tensioner clockwise and place the belt around the final pulley. release the tensioner slowly until it sits firmly against the belt.

this needs to be a sticky so we don't have a question like this every three days.




GO PATS!!!

How hard do you have to pull on the nut, cause I was putting all my force and it wouldnt move so i thought oh okay maybe I am doing ti the wrong way and I tried the other way and it still would not budge. I am pulling it toward the front of the car so clockwise and it still wouldnt move. am i doing someintg wrong?

It would be towards opposite side of the belt. Facing the pulleys (so you would be on the passenger side of the car) if the belt travels around the tensioner on the left, rotate to the right (clockwise), or vice-versa. It shouldn't require too much force, unless for some reason your tensioner spring froze (rusted) in which case, you may need some penetrating lube to free it up a bit, in which case, removing the tire would be necessary (and fender liner)

Also, make sure that the pulley you are trying to relieve tension on is, in fact, the tensioner. I don't have a pic of a 2.3 to use as an example...

Other than that, I'm out of ideas.