Pulley HELP!!!

[NJraider231]

OK,
So I bought this thrasher pulley, 3.4, for my 99 Park Ave Ultra and am having an awful time. How do you release the tension on the supercharger belt? I can't seem to put enough pressure on the tensioner by just pushing it from the front, is there a better way? And can I change the belt without dropping the engine or does it have to be dropped to get the belt aorund the crank pulley?
Thanks for your quick repsonses guys, I need to get this rented pulley puller back asap.
Brad

 

[QuikBuik]

I've never had to take my belt off, but my understanding is to put a wrench or socket on the tensioner, and it loosens the belt right up. And I've never heard of anyone having to drop the engine to change belts either, shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck, and kudos to you for upping the boost on a Park Avenue. Maybe you could bring it to the meet at Mooresville Dragway next month?

 

[mcad_c]

15mm socket on the pulley bolt.

Pull forward.

It shouldnot be hard.

 

[NJraider231]

well...

A 15 mm nut would be great, but no such nuts around. I found out it's actually a T34 or some other huge torx bit that goes in the side of the tensioner. And yes the engine mount does have to come off to put the belt on, because you can't slide it around the crank pulley without lowering the engine. And worst of all..... the gatorback belt they sent me is about 4 inches too short!! So right now my car is sitting in a friends driveway untilI track down the right belt, but hey at least the pulley is on. Any idea if the park ave belt is longer that the GTP belt or something? Shouldn't be but maybe a a different set-up with the tensioner or something? Thanks.

 

[tom t]

I swapped the 3.4 pulley onto my 2000 GTP last year and didn't have to do anything like you described. Just as mcad_c said, I used a 15mm socket to loosen the tensioner and simply slipped the Gatorback belt right on. I can't see why a Series II 3800 in a Park Avenue would be any different...

 

[NJraider231]

Well news to us all...

I didn't think it was going to different and apparently neither did the people at 3800peformance.com either. In fact, the gatorback belt they sent me that should have fit with a smaller pulley was about 4 inches too short. I did manage to get the pulley on and release the tension on the tensioner. I see in the directions they included (obviously GTP esque') that the park ave missed the boat on the 15 mm bolt on the tensioner. Instead GM thought it would be a good idea to make it a massive torx bit, like t-50 or t-47, forgot which one, but the set of them cost me another 17 bucks. From the fuse box, to the battery, to the engine mount that had to come out to install the belt on the crankshaft pulley, I had to use 7 different sizes of sockets from SAE to metric. It makes me want my honda back. Thanks GM for making a simple pulley and belt change as difficult as possible. But yeah the extra power is real nice. Though I am a bit concerned that the belt rubs against itself and high speeds. Since some of the tension was taken off the tensioner it has a drifted a bit higher and there is about a 16th of an inch or room in between the two sides of the belt as it runs. A slightly smaller belt would help I imagine, I just don't know how to find out which belt would be slightly shorter than a stock park ave... Any suggestions or comments?
Thanks, Brad