How To Inspect And Replace The Serpentine Belt On A 2002-06 Chevy Trailblazer

The long, hot summer can add a lot of wear and tear to your Chevy Trailblazer. One of the parts that is fairly easy to inspect and replace is the serpentine belt on the engine. The serpentine belt goes around a series of pulleys that power things like the water pump, alternator, power steering, and air conditioning pump. If the belt breaks, all these other parts will stop running. If you are hearing squealing sounds coming from the engine, chances are it has something to do with your serpentine belt. Here is how an average car owner with limited mechanical ability can remove, inspect, and replace a worn serpentine belt.

How to Remove Belt

The serpentine is located in the front of the engine and behind the radiator fan on the 2002-06 Chevy Trailblazers. You will need a 3/8 socket wrench with a long handle to remove the belt. If you don't have a long handle socket wrench, you can place a small pipe around the end of the handle on the wrench to get the leverage you will need to adjust the tensioner pulley.

The tensioner pulley is the small pulley located under a larger pulley on the left-hand side of the engine. There is a 3/8 nut on the pulley. Place the socket on the nut and turn it counterclockwise to loosen the belt. Once the belt is loosened, remove the belt from the other pulleys and pull it out of the engine compartment.

Inspecting the Belt

You want to turn the belt inside out so you can inspect the inside of the belt. There are a series of ridges that go around the inside the belt. The ridges should be solid without any cracks in them. If you see any cracks, you should replace the belt. The other area that you need to inspect is the seam on the belt where the two ends of the belt are connected together. If the seam is starting to break apart, you'll need to replace the belt.

Installing the New Belt

Loop the belt around the crank pulley at the bottom of the left side of the engine. The crank pulley is the largest of all the pulleys. Make sure the ridged side of the belt is facing the surface of the pulley. Wrap the belt around the water pump pulley at the top right of the engine and then wrap it around the smaller air conditioner pulley down at the bottom of the engine. Bring the belt back up and put it over the idler pulley. The idler pulley doesn't power any parts – its purpose is to help with placing the serpentine belt around the engine.

Place the belt around the power steering pulley above the tensioner pulley. Place the socket wrench on the nut on the tensioner pulley and turn it counterclockwise again. Slip the belt over the tensioner pulley and release the nut.

Helpful Tip: Take a picture of the belt and how it goes over the pulleys before you take it off so you can refer to it as you place the belt back on the engine, or obtain a diagram you can refer to when reinstalling the belt.

For more information and tips, contact a company like Goodeal Lifetime Transmissions.