That kind of makes me worried. If I ended up with a $200 bill it would take them around 2-3 hours (assuming $80/hour labor). If it takes them that long it will take me about double haha.

Edit - not sure if you're including parts in that quote. I always bring my own parts to them since I can always find them cheaper than through a mechanic!

 

If you have a heart beat you should be able to pull this off. Just did mine today for the first time and was pretty simple. I used a tension gauge reading of about 195 for the power steering/alternator belt and 180 for the Ac belt. The old ones were both at 180 before I removed. I counted the number of turns I unscrewed the tension bolts since I read that tip from another post. Helped to get me back to relatively around where I needed to be. I read somewhere that the manufacturer spec was 188-208 lb for alternator & 106-126 lb for ac) This seemed way to low for the ac belt as at 180 I can twist past 90 degrees.

 

Ahha same here, annoying ripping off the heads of rusted out dead screws. So tempted to just get a new plastic cover and replace all screws one day, but I am sure I will never do it. All talk no action.

 

I'm thinking about leaving the cover off. I kno cars back in the day survived just fine without underbody panels. It might hurt fuel mileage slightly but I'm thinking it will be worth it to make oil changes and other maintenance easier.

 

I have the 2005 and oil changes dont require the cover to come off since there is a hole in it where the filter is and oil drain. But for some reason I think on the 2004 it had to come off.

 

I remember reading through this a while back when I changed my belts and I believe it was mentioned to be careful replacing the bolts on the under piece as it is easy to strip the clip by over tightening.

I will say for those that do this and don't read all 8 pages is: make sure you have the right size belt for the A/C. I originally received the 36 1/2 and it was obviously too small; had to drive the car back to the parts store with just the drive belt to get it swapped out for the 37 1/2.

 

thanks for posting this it helped me out alot ..
i was able to remove a small shroud from around the bottom of the radiator to giveme ample space to maneuver my socket short socket on the alt belt ... long socket on the a/c comp. belt ..
while i did my oil change took a bit over 10 mins to complete

 

I didn't have the knowledge and went to Sears not long ago and had my serpentine and ac belt replaced. Both were cracked and dry rotting. Well yesterday I noticed no cold air from my ac unit. So I checked the fluids and started checking the hoses. Come to find out my belt is off! Looks unused! I cannot figure out how or why this happened. Neve had this issue before.





The belt came off

 

I'm almost certain they didn't tighten up the tensioner bolt after they turned the tensioner adjusting bolt. Sounds like it's Sear's fault. It's very easy to do the belt yourself after you remove the top air intake scoop (a few clips) and the bottom underside cover (around 14 10mm bolts to my recollection). Up to you if you want to take the car back to Sears and see how they handle this epic fail or just fix it yourself.

 

I took the car back had them fix it. Well after 20 min of driving a sound came from nowhere. Then I took it back again. Turns out what happened is they try to use a non OEM washer or something can't remember. But that cause the new pulley they put on for free and bolt they replaced for no charge as well; to come off. They explained it was their fault. So they are ordering the correct OEM part to Do it right. I'd do it but until I move I cannot get underneath the car. She sits low and I live on an incline. If you ask me that's pure honesty. However it would just have been better for them to do it the first time. They stayed calm the whole time. Most places say **** off when ou return.

 

Yeah, sure does sound like pure honesty. But I still question why they tried to do a hack job in the first place. I'm guessing they must have snapped some bolt (could be from over-torquing...who knows) and tried to workaround the problem with a washer. Based on the failure you described, it would most likely be the bolt that you tighten up on the center of the tensioner pulley. Anyway as long as they fix it for free (after admitting fault), then you're good to go!

 

Well they went to infinity And bought the whole assembly, bolts pulley and belt. Installed and no charge to me. Now everything is good just need to recharge my ac haha!