My son needed a new alternator on his LeSabre, so we put one on. The original had 150,000 miles on it. I thought I would go ahead and put a new serpentine belt on. This is the venerable 3.8 V6, so it should be Should be easy peasy. You Put a 5 mm socket on the tensioner, create some slack and slip the belt off. I could not get the belt out from under the harmonic balancer. There was not enough clearance between the frame/bracket under the motor and the bottom of the balancer pulley to get the belt out.
is the motor sitting too low? is there a bad motor mount or something that's letting it sag? I just wonder if anyone has run into this.
is the motor sitting too low? is there a bad motor mount or something that's letting it sag?
Quite possibly given the car's age. (In fact I'd be surprised if the motor mounts weren't bad.) A photo would be helpful to see what's going on.
Check the mounts, maybe carefully jack the engine up a little with a floor jack to get the clearance needed.
Thanks, Chuck. I just slipped the old belt back on and sent him on his way. I'll have him bring it back over for an oil change, and we will try to get a good look under it and maybe get some photos. I'll also look up some videos on motor mounts for that vehicle.