Replacing the Serpentine Belt
 

Hey fellow HHR owners
First post here ever...
I have to replace my serpentine belt and noticed last night that there isn't a whole lot of room in there to move around. I thought I might limit my frustration a bit and ask the experts first. Any tips or tricks or secret passageways?? My dealer wanted $130.00 to do the job, thought it was kinda high as I used to do this work on my old little jimmy all the time.
Thanks from Canada
no canadian jokes eh!

Welcome.... Not sure where the experts are at the moment, but here goes..
Perhaps the illustration will help, Yes it is tight conditions.

I would start at the crank pulley & then go over the A/C pulley, pull back the tensioner, & loop it over Alternator & gently release the belt tensioner..
IIRC a 3/8" drive rachet will fit the tensioner square hole (see pic) to pull up on it.

Thanks Sleeper
That is kinda what I thought too, now I just have to make my arms a little thinner and I think I'll be able to do it!
HHReh

Need to remove the passenger side access panel under the vehicle and come in from the bottom.

Thanks ChevyMgr
See I knew there was a secret hole!

Not sure where you are going to do this, but a lift makes this an easy job. On your back won't be so easy.

After you remove excess amounts of accumulated snow....oh sorry , you said no jokes.........:D

easiest way of doing it is with 2 people....one pushes up on tensioner while other slides belt off the alternator....and then to put it back on...go from the bottom up....crank, a/c, tensioner...then push up on tensioner and have second person loop onto the alternator...no more than 2 minutes to remove and reinstall

mrsilent13 is spot on with his suggestions. Did mine exactly that way @ 75K miles and it literally was no more than 2 minutes.

Wheel was off for another reason so that made it easier but we didn't remove any panels.

Is the proper way to relieve tension by using the 3/8 square hole in the tensioner or the 15mm bolt that holds the tensioner on?

You relieve the tension using the 3/8" square hole..

Thanks for the reply. The problem is my serpentine belt tool is too long and i dont have the room to move the tool where i need it to. I'll look into one of the ratcheting serpentine belt tools and maybe that will work. The hole inside the rf wheel well is for access to the 15mm bolt to take the tensioner off??

Get a quote. My dealer did it for 104 and I provided the belt. Got shuttled back and forth to work. Save your skin and time for the little money.

You got robbed for a 10-15 minute job..

Just sayin...

And the "special tool" is a loaner. I paid around $9 for the belt. I wish that I could afford to throw $100 away. I am seriously thinking of opening my own "bootleg" shop, can I get a copy of the flat rate book for free?

So, I wasted a whole evening trying to get to the tensioner well. the wall of the body only gives 3/4" gap. too little for a ratchet and all the AP stores are closed so I have to go another day without my HHR! ARGHHH! need that tool. DAM why don't they make it easier?

This job is not easy without a lift, but I found removing the RF wheel and accessing the tensioner through the wheelwell to be the biggest keys. Relatively skinny arms also help!!

In the Haynes Manual it says. To remove the drivebelt, use jack stands and remove the right front wheel and lower the fenderwell splash shield. ( held by 4 fasteners but picture is very bad as where the fasteners are but I'm sure most of us could figure it out). Then insert a 3/8 in drive breaker bar or drive belt tensioner tool into the square hole in the tensioner arm. Rotate the arm counterclockwise to release the drivebelt tension, then remove the belt from the pulleys.

Then at the bottom of the page they have a picture showing the breaker bar inserted through the large oval shape hole in the splash shield. This haynes manual is far from the best IMO.

I used a belt tensioner tool that I bought cheap for Harbor Freight Tools years ago. I had to cut it to a length of about 13" to work on the HHR but it worked for me.

Methinks the designers had the hole there for a smaller engine and were too lazy to move it for the bigger one. All I know is I am still waiting to buy my alt and don't like that I will have to rent a tool that may not even work.

Not Cheap, but Pully Boys has a Tool that makes belt changes an Easy one man job.

Attachment 24943

It's $75.00 bucks plus shipping but it makes changing the belt a breeze.

It was worth it for me, i'll be swapping belts in and out once he supercharger is installed.

If Snap On had them they would cost the same or most likely more.

When I was a body and fender man the Snap On man Loved me. :lol:

But then again when you make your living using Tools, have the right tool for the job it's a Must.:thumb:


:skull:

No one helped me when I did mine and it really wasn't a difficult or time consuming job. You might want that tool if you're a mechanic for a living but for the average person it's not necessary.

see my post
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...6&postcount=49

the tool you need is j44811.

I would LOVE to see you fit that tool in the 3/4" space between the engine and firewall of the HHR! Seriously!!!:clown:

OPPS, your probably right.

Since I am installing a Cobalt SS/SC supercharger it works with a superchargers setup. When I posted I forgot they were different setups/brackets.

I bought the tool so I can easily install the belt myself, and can make supercharger pully swaps a breeze in the future.

Attachment 24868

Attachment 24869

Got excited when the tool arrived totally forgetting about the difference in setups.

neat tool specfic to your application

The "right tool" that GM will sell you (for around $60) looks exactly like the "universal" tool.... until you notice that the 3/8 square is 45 degrees to the bar instead of 0.

I used the cheap Harbor Freight tool, #66344. I paid under 15 bucks for it and it worked just fine. The only modification I had to make to it was cutting it down to about 13". I probably mentioned that already somewhere earlier in this thread.

In some of the posts there is a pic of a herbor freight shortened tool with a hook on the end. What is the hook used for and where?

pay and be done with it.................local mechanic does wonders when you deal with him/her on a regular basis

cost me $20 plus the belt which i got from autozone.................cheap fix

The problem is that there is not enough clearance under the hood to let the standard length tool do it's job, the hook is used to hold the tool in the "open" position while your knuckles are in jeopardy, usually to the hood support or any other easy spot, or just to grip if you are a "manly man".

Personally, I think that removing the motor mount and "borrowing" the tool from Advance/Zone/Pep/Oreilly is easier and faster and cheaper.

Hello HHR owners:

This is my first post, I have a request somewhere on this form I found a list of ECM codes can someone point me in the right direction. Iam trying to find the code for faulty gas cap. My check engine light is on with code of P0449, Iam trying to figure out if a bad gas cap is related

Thanks in advance for any help

Winger

Welcome to the site.:thumb:
It's a "Sticky" under: Problems/Service/Repairs
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/problems-service-repairs-42/list-diagnostic-trouble-codes-2008-2010-hhr-14259/

P.S. In the future, don't put a new question at the end of an unrelated thread. Nobody will notice it there. Start a new thread for your question.

So you just put a jack under the engine and took out the motor mount? I had to buy the stupid tool from Oreilly and wasted the entire evening trying to make it work.

Better than this afternoon, though, when I loosened the bolt that held the tensioner in place then had my neighbor hold it down while I tightened it again. Yeah, that belt didn't stay in place long. :lol:

I may call the college and see if I can just use their lift for half an hour.

Yes! put a piece of 2X4 between the jack and the oil pan.

Thanks donbrew and all you other folks, the info is the tops. I'm gunna take the mount off my hands are a little to meaty (nice term eh?) to squeeze down there with it in place. Up, Up and away!! I'll be back soon with some more questions. Thanks again!!!

Belt replacement
 

Used the floor jack and a piece of 2x4 under the oil pan (not too much pressure):twothumbs: and that has got to be the easiest way. Especially if you have "thick" (as my dr. describes me) hands and arms.

too SMALL of an area. not going to attempt this one..

This is how I tackled the belt tensioner. I found the hole for the 3/8" ratchet pretty useless, as none of my ratchet handles were small enough to fit in there. So I opened up the splash sheild under the car and wedged a long extension bar under the tensioner and on top of a floor jack. Then I just jacked up the end of the tensioner until there was enough slack.

This is the floor jack under the car, careful not to jack up under the frame.

Attachment 24035

This is the end of the extension under the tensioner, not under the pulley itself.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...502e9870c4.jpg