'89 Wrangler YJ Serpentine Belt

[Bill M]

Hi Folks,
I have an '89 Wrangler that needs a new power steering pump. How do I release the tension on the serpentine belt?

Thanks,

Bill

 

[xt master]

There should be a tension pulley.Loosen the 2 bolts and the pulley should slide enough to get the belt off.The tensioner pulley is just a plain pulley not attached to any thing.Some times it is just a smooth pulley pushing up on the belt.

I found a pic of a grand cherokee,but most of them are close to the same thing

Google Image Result for http://z.about.com/d/autorepair/1/0/t/s/83213500.gif

 

[Boze]

xt master is right. but even after you pull the idler pulley the serpentine belt can still be kind of tight. Just muscle it off. If you do it right, your knucklels should slam into your radiator and lose a couple layers of skin...at least that's how I did it.

 

[Bill M]

The '89 4.2L with AC seems to have an odd layout as compared to any repair manual I have looked at. The tension is supposed to be adjusted from the alternator but it's not very effective. It just required more brute strength then I wanted to apply at first. It's all done now, no more leaking power steering pump. Thanks for the help.

 

[xt master]

I have worked on some that you use the alt bracket.Tie iron works well to make it move.