Stretch belt installer/remover tool

[Luke5305]

Hello everyone, after some new tool advice ,
Got to replace an aux belt (air con/alternator) on my Hyundai i10 , there's no adjuster so I'm looking at different stretch belt tools, I've never come across stretch belts before.

Although I'm in the UK I can order from amazon a one piece steel Lisle one , is that a US brand ? which looks a lot better quality than the no name versions , but eBay throws up a range of plastic devices and different tools with threaded clamps . what does everyone else use or shall I try and fit the belt with cable ties and a blunt screwdriver ?

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

watch the fingers

 

[dnschmidt]

The Lisle tool works fine. It's not that bad to simply cut the old belt off and install the new one using zip ties. There are many YouTube videos detailing this method. If you want to reuse the belt then you need what amount to a derailer to roll the old belt off for reuse and that's what the Lisle tool will do for you along with installing the belt.

 

[txvwnut]

Look at all the pulleys. We have a fleet of tractors at the day job that use stretch belts and the water pump pulley has a profiled flange that allows you to walk the belt on while turning the crank by hand with minimal effort.

 

[Milton Shaw]

Don't get your fingers stuck in the belt/pulley. Just had a friend almost cut the end of his finger off in a rooftop AC unit, ended up with two surgeries and its still numb and doesn't move right. Just a warning. There is a lot of pressure and sharp edges to get you easily.

 

[Luke5305]

Thank you so much for the replies so far, the tip about the flange on the pulley is something I'd not considered and i'll be having respect for the belts , I probably won't try flicking it on with the engine running ! I'm going to buy the Lisle tool and probably use cable ties to help me hold it in place, just in case I can't master it first time, access is a bit tricky as well.

 

[FMB4]

Yes, carefully roll/walk the new S belt on while turning the crank by hand at the popper pulley (as wisely mention above). Failure to follow said procedure can, as said above, result in personal injury or, at the very least, result in 'over stretching' the S belt (which = greatly reduced S belt life span).

 

[ChevyEFI]

I got the Gates red anodized cylinder / bolt design once I found it would work on my truck. It isn't inclusive of ramp, but will let the belt scoot onto the pulley with some effort.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I was hoping someone had an answer to the stretch belt question, I have the lisle tool, as well as a few engine family specific ones, and they all ****.

 

[xlowxyotax88x]

I've never found a tool that works on anything in the last 7 years in the shop. If it's a 1.6 l ford buy the belt from ford it comes with the install tool. Anything that has holes in a pulley(such as ps pump) use that pulley to ride it on with a zip tie to hold it. Other than that I cut them off if not reusing, if I am 2 people, one turning crank and another pulling on a rag wrapped around belt to help walk it off. Otherwise I have an old cheap Stanley yellow and black handle that is bent 90 degrees and rounded points that I use to walk it on with. I hate stretch belts, they're pointless, as is most of the tools for them, especially the lisle tool and it hurts to say because most of their offerings are on point.

 

[Ign]

I thought stretch belts were the typical pleasure of:
1) engineers: "we don't actually have to WORK on it and it looks cleaner on paper"
and
2) bean counters: "it saves .30 per vehicle, we love it!!!!"

No???

 

[Luke5305]

All good advice and gratefully received,I've ordered up the Lisle tool as I'm going to walk off the old belt, to keep in the car as a get me home spare, might be useful one day, I've found a mini paint roller handle , with the 90 degree bend and large grip handle, that I'm thinking as a puller to walk it on if needed.

One thing that surprised me was the cost of the belt, guess I'm paying for the stretch technology, I'd much rather have a threaded adjuster and take the tension up when needed.

 

[bwringer]

I thought stretch belts were the typical pleasure of:
1) engineers: "we don't actually have to WORK on it and it looks cleaner on paper"
and
2) bean counters: "it saves .30 per vehicle, we love it!!!!"

No???

Yep, that's about the size of it.

So, sooooo stupid.

 

[Ign]

Admittedly I've had very limited experience with them. The last one I did was an '05 Escape 3.0 with the Team TFI "we don't know where to fit the water pump so we'll run the crank out the back of the block and slap it over there."

I was able to leave the entire water pump "module" loose and put the belt on, then pry the pump down and start the bolts. It wasn't elegant but it worked.

IIRC Ford actually provided a tensioner thru '04 and then deleted it beginning in '05.

In a stroke of irony (for the 2 people still reading) I'm starting on a water pump on the NEXT gen Duratec in an '07 Mazda today. I'll again be dealing with a stretch belt -- this time for p/s. And this time Team TFI was still befuddled about what to do for the water pump, so they went to other extreme and buried it behind the timing cover ensuring that a failed bearing/seal filled the oil pan with water while providing no external visual cues of a coolant leak.

Go Team TFI!!

 

[Lassen Forge]

I have the Lisle tool, and it is a timesaver and, with something like the Hyundai, a lifesaver. Think I spent $30 for it, you can order it on line, and yeah, just get it.

 

[dscheidt]

I thought stretch belts were the typical pleasure of:
1) engineers: "we don't actually have to WORK on it and it looks cleaner on paper"
and
2) bean counters: "it saves .30 per vehicle, we love it!!!!"

No???

two point belts are more efficient than ones with more points of contact. Yes, you can accomplish that with an old fashioned pivoting mount, but then you rely on technicians to properly tighten the belt, and hoping the pivot doesn't come loose. (From experience: they won't, it will.) Over tightened belts cause premature wear on bearings and belts, loose belts don't transmit power properly.

Two fixed pulleys and a slightly elastic belt is smaller (important for cramming as much under the hood as possible), lighter, probably cheaper, and will work reliably for the life of the belt, which with modern materials, is a long time, quite possibly as long as the driven component. They also make less noise (and have fewer components to make noise or vibrate).

Yes, they **** to put on (and get off, if you're not just cutting it).

 

[dscheidt]

I thought stretch belts were the typical pleasure of:
1) engineers: "we don't actually have to WORK on it and it looks cleaner on paper"
and
2) bean counters: "it saves .30 per vehicle, we love it!!!!"

No???

two point belts are more efficient than ones with more points of contact. Yes, you can accomplish that with an old fashioned pivoting mount, but then you rely on technicians to properly tighten the belt, and hoping the pivot doesn't come loose. (From experience: they won't, it will.) Over tightened belts cause premature wear on bearings and belts, loose belts don't transmit power properly.

Two fixed pulleys and a slightly elastic belt is smaller (important for cramming as much under the hood as possible), lighter, probably cheaper, and will work reliably for the life of the belt, which with modern materials, is a long time, quite possibly as long as the driven component. They also make less noise (and have fewer components to make noise or vibrate).

Yes, they **** to put on (and get off, if you're not just cutting it).

 

[Ign]

You don't necessarily need a pivoting mount. Toyota and surely plenty of others just use a linear jack screw that slides a pulley in a straight line. But yeah, the design adds some complication and thus components and that = manufacturing expense

Are we really seeing a significant number of belt or accy failures from too-tight or too-loose belts? Maybe. I'm not (shrug). I guess YMMV

I understand the stretch belts WORK. I think the ultimate problem is that the average GJ user is the minority who would choose adjustability over none.

 

[PoorUB]

Wow! I learned something new today. I have never heard of "stretch" belts.

Seems like what we were told not to do with a belt!

 

[joe_pinehill1]

I have the Lisle, and a tool that came with a Subaru belt. Both work. As a weekend mechanic the first belt I did was interesting, second and on are simply.

 

[rlitman]

Wow! I learned something new today. I have never heard of "stretch" belts.

Seems like what we were told not to do with a belt!

Yeah, stretch belts are quite different from what came before. They also have significantly longer lifecycles, and do not crack or otherwise show wear externally. In fact, they look so good as they age that you need a special (though very inexpensive) gauge to tell when they're worn out.

 

[Milton Shaw]

The first and only ones I have had anything to do with were on washing machines. Zip ties were what was recommended to help put them on. But under the washer there was very little room to get in there to use zip ties. They seemed to last as well as the previous non stretch belts that they replaced.

 

[Luke5305]

The Lisle tool has arrived, quite impressed with it, a lot heavier than i was expecting, it seems to have been machined from one piece of steel. The remove side is a lot smoother than the install side for some reason, but I'm happy with it.

Just waiting for an engine mount to arrive so I only have to lay under the car once, then I'll try it out.