vincethesoundguy
New Member
I'm a relatively new CRD owner (about 10 months) and haven't posted on here yet. I bought my 05 CRD from a dealer in MS last fall.
Didn't see a posting on how to do this so I thought I'd share my experience.
So far I have done all the maintenance on this vehicle by myself, including rear shocks, transmission drain, filters, and refill, rear diff drain and refill, oil and oil filter change, fuel filter change, new U joints, to name a few. My favorite component of this truck is definitely the motor, 24-27 mpg on a regular basis, and tons of torque. No spark plugs, wire sets, coil packs, etc etc....
Yesterday I replaced the serpentine belt for my own peace of mind. I saw on some sites where they listed it as a 1-2 hour job. I did it in about one hour and that's because I worked slowly to make sure it was done correctly.
First off. if it were easy to remove the plastic fan shroud this would be a 1/2 hour job, but it still can be done with skinny, or skinnied up arms. Be prepared to get your arms scratched up a bit for this project.
Step 1: Use a short breaker bar and 15mm socket to to move the tensioner pulley to the right (clockwise) to take the tension off the old belt, and slip the belt off the tensioner pulley. Remove the old belt. My old belt was in pretty good condition so I saved it in the truck in case I'm driving through BF Egypt and lose a belt.
Step 2: The diagram for the belt position was posted on the radiator shroud of my CRD. If you don't have this, you better find one before you take the old belt off. Start feeding the belt on at the bottom of the engine and work your way around till you get to the driver's side of the engine. Make sure the textured side of the belt is facing the accessory pulleys, and the smooth side is facing the idler and tension pulleys. This next part is really important to make this much easier. Run the belt around the AC unit and then the alternator but not around the idler pulley between them. You'll do this part last. Put your breaker bar on the tensioner pulley, move it to the right again to place tension on it, and then move the belt on to the idler pulley between the AC unit and the alternator. I discovered this to be the easiest way to get the belt on, after a little (really a lot) of trial and error.
Step 3: Make sure the belt is centered on the accessory pulleys, within the metal edges/tracks. Stop and check that you followed the diagram once more. Now comes a slight moment of terror. Bump the starter a few times, get out, and check the fit again, to make sure. If all seems right, you're done except for the antiseptic cream and band-aids for your arms.
Step 4: Crack a cold one. You probably just saved 1-2 hours of professional mechanic time/money.
Didn't see a posting on how to do this so I thought I'd share my experience.
So far I have done all the maintenance on this vehicle by myself, including rear shocks, transmission drain, filters, and refill, rear diff drain and refill, oil and oil filter change, fuel filter change, new U joints, to name a few. My favorite component of this truck is definitely the motor, 24-27 mpg on a regular basis, and tons of torque. No spark plugs, wire sets, coil packs, etc etc....
Yesterday I replaced the serpentine belt for my own peace of mind. I saw on some sites where they listed it as a 1-2 hour job. I did it in about one hour and that's because I worked slowly to make sure it was done correctly.
First off. if it were easy to remove the plastic fan shroud this would be a 1/2 hour job, but it still can be done with skinny, or skinnied up arms. Be prepared to get your arms scratched up a bit for this project.
Step 1: Use a short breaker bar and 15mm socket to to move the tensioner pulley to the right (clockwise) to take the tension off the old belt, and slip the belt off the tensioner pulley. Remove the old belt. My old belt was in pretty good condition so I saved it in the truck in case I'm driving through BF Egypt and lose a belt.
Step 2: The diagram for the belt position was posted on the radiator shroud of my CRD. If you don't have this, you better find one before you take the old belt off. Start feeding the belt on at the bottom of the engine and work your way around till you get to the driver's side of the engine. Make sure the textured side of the belt is facing the accessory pulleys, and the smooth side is facing the idler and tension pulleys. This next part is really important to make this much easier. Run the belt around the AC unit and then the alternator but not around the idler pulley between them. You'll do this part last. Put your breaker bar on the tensioner pulley, move it to the right again to place tension on it, and then move the belt on to the idler pulley between the AC unit and the alternator. I discovered this to be the easiest way to get the belt on, after a little (really a lot) of trial and error.
Step 3: Make sure the belt is centered on the accessory pulleys, within the metal edges/tracks. Stop and check that you followed the diagram once more. Now comes a slight moment of terror. Bump the starter a few times, get out, and check the fit again, to make sure. If all seems right, you're done except for the antiseptic cream and band-aids for your arms.
Step 4: Crack a cold one. You probably just saved 1-2 hours of professional mechanic time/money.
