I've got a new drive belt & water pump on order so thought I'd do the legwork tonight and remove the shroud & fan then take off the old belt. Everything was going well until it came to removing the drive belt when I noticed my engine doesn't match any of those shown in the Haynes manual.
Mine (4.0L 1998 Grand Cherokee) has 8 pulleys -- none of those shown in the manual match the belt routing or pulley layout or for that matter have eight pulleys (I think the most shown is 7). I thought at first the previous owner had put the belt on wrong but it matches the routing shown on the sticker on the shroud.
Can anyone give me some pointers as to where/how I release the tension in the belt so I can get it off and get the new one on?
Layout is as follows: main crank pulley is bottom centre, immediately above is the water pump/fan. To the top left (looking front on) is a cluster of pulleys: the alternator and what I assume are a couple of idlers. To the right is the power steering pulley topmost, then below that what I'm assuming is the A/C compressor with another idler (I'm guessing) between them.
Is this engine manually tensioned or are one of the idlers an auto tensioner? On the sticker on the shroud is an arrow marked "belt removal" in the middle of the cluster of pulleys around the alternator but I've no idea what it means or is pointing to.
Any help much appreciated, my car is going nowhere til I get the belt and water pump replaced (both knackered).
Cheers,
Stuart
