Another perfect video. Wanted to change the drive belt when I replaced the alternator so I looked up your video. Only thing I did differently was to add an 18" to 20" long piece of pipe that fit over the handle of the ratchet. It made it a lot easier to release the tensioner pulley without adding a lot of undue pressure on the ratchet or my arm. It's bloody cold out and I didn't have the patience to play around with it. lol Other than that, this video was exactly what I needed to find where the belt ran. No diagram on the hood or header. Sometimes car manufacturers suck. None of my last 3 cars had the diagrams on them. 2 Dodges and a Pontiac. Again, I thank you for an awesome video. Take care, be safe and have an awesome week. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
I know! It's crazy...belt diagrams used to be on all the cars. I haven't seen one on a recent car in ages. It's a giant, unnecessary hassle. Glad to hear this one helped out. This is always excellent feedback, and it's why I make these videos. Great idea on the pipe for leverage. Makes things so much easier, I agree. Thanks once again. Have a merry Christmas and Happy New Year. All the best!
For supercharged, the process is the same except you have to pull off both belts. I knew my belt was getting a little on the worn side for a while now but I was just holding off until I did my intercooler in the spring. But with the thaw we've been getting this week and all the dampness and puddles, it actually fell off on me yesterday while I was driving. It's scary how hard it is to steer once that power steering is gone! Luckily I had my tools and experience so I quickly hopped out and put it back on, then bought the same one as you. That's the last time I'll ever neglect my belt system though.
Damn! That is scary for sure, and having driven cars with power steering malfunctioning, I know exactly what you mean. Makes me wonder how people got by without it! Glad to hear you were able to get it resolved on the spot like that...many would have been stuck, unfortunately. Awesome stuff!
You shouldn't lubricate a belt tensioner. They can be lubricated for sure, but that normally requires disassembly and reinstallation, and if nothing is tightened correctly, it can lead to problems for sure. And if you try and spray it while it is still installed, the lubrication can get on the belt or other surrounding rubber components and cause premature failure (over a long time, though), or can cause the belt to slip or squeak. However, if you are confident in your skills and are cautious, you can lubricate them. It is just are your own discretion.
Indeed it could. If the tensioner is not doing its job, the belt will start to slip. If it gets really bad, the belt can really slip a lot. And the tensioner can have a good pulley that spins, but it's still not providing tension. It should be firm, and shouldn't be moving or vibrating when the car is running
There isn't a lot of new parts on there. A lot of it is original parts, but stuff like spark plugs, drive belt, wires, coils, came from rockauto. My suspension and brakes are a combination of stuff from Rockauto and ZZP. (ZZP is a great company too, lots of good stuff). Alternator is a custom build from a local shop (high amp alternator). Water pump and coolant L hoses are from Rockauto too. Strut tower bar was bought from a local here in Canada. Both Rockauto and ZZP had supplied a good portion of parts for my car.
I have a 2005 grand prix with a weird shifting issue. It revs a few times rather than shift into 2nd and 3rd then eventually shifts 4th. Then it goes into this weird mode where the engine noise changes and it makes a surging noise from 1st into 2nd gear and shifts hard then shifts hard and weird in 3rd and 4th gear. It doesn't rev in this "mode" it actually shifts rather than rev but shifts hard and weird every gear. When I turn off car and turn it on after 30 seconds this mode goes away. Only right when i drive the car for the 1st time for the day it shifts normal for a couple min. Does everybody know what this is? There is no check engine light on either.
Hmmmm....this is a tricky one. I would need to have the car in front of me to truly diagnose something like this. Do you have a hard start, where you have to press the gas sometimes to get it started, or when it is surging, does it sometimes feel like it can die out? I would probably start with 3 things, as there is a lot of things that can go wrong here. 1. If you have an ODBII reader, or know someone does, hook it up anyways. You may not see a Check Engine light, but there may be a code regardless. 2. I would look at doing a transmission filter change, and dump the old fluid and fill with fresh fluid. 3. I would clean the throttle body. There is other things too, from minor to major. But just based on what you wrote, I would start with this, generally.
@@hunchoglo2050 oh ok, gotcha. Those are really hard to get there days. Even reputably online stores like Rockauto and ZZP don't seem to have them anymore. I think at this point, the best bet my be a junkyard.
Thanks for the video. I have an 05 GP Base. How and where did you find your strut tower bar? Did it line up with the hole already or did you have to mod it into place?
No problem at all. The strut tower bar has become very hard to get these days. I actually got it off a local here from a Grand Prix club that I am now part of. It is worth noting that on its own, you need to mod it by drilling into the strut tower and installing them. The silver brackets do not come with them. You would install them the 2 bolts that you see on the end of the red bar, that holds in on to the silver brackets. The brackets are from Don Rome. You can look him up online....they are custom ones only he makes. Not sure if he still does. I also got my door handle knobs from him too.
@@NexusAuto You can actually order a pair of these bars, new with mounting hardware, from any GM dealer (part 12498648) for fairly cheap. The rear one mounts with no modifications, the front one just needs the holes drilled instead of using the brackets (which are very expensive and hard to find these days it seems).
@@moozery I didnt know that! I had checked in with a local dealership here and they said they could not get it, so I was on the hunt for people selling it, and online. Took some time, but I got it. Thanks for the tip and part number
Thanks to everyone for pointing me where to go. Found both Don Rome and an online seller for the strut tower bar. Will be making a purchase/upgrade soon :)
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Another perfect video. Wanted to change the drive belt when I replaced the alternator so I looked up your video. Only thing I did differently was to add an 18" to 20" long piece of pipe that fit over the handle of the ratchet. It made it a lot easier to release the tensioner pulley without adding a lot of undue pressure on the ratchet or my arm. It's bloody cold out and I didn't have the patience to play around with it. lol
Other than that, this video was exactly what I needed to find where the belt ran. No diagram on the hood or header. Sometimes car manufacturers suck. None of my last 3 cars had the diagrams on them. 2 Dodges and a Pontiac.
Again, I thank you for an awesome video. Take care, be safe and have an awesome week.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
I know! It's crazy...belt diagrams used to be on all the cars. I haven't seen one on a recent car in ages. It's a giant, unnecessary hassle.
Glad to hear this one helped out. This is always excellent feedback, and it's why I make these videos. Great idea on the pipe for leverage. Makes things so much easier, I agree.
Thanks once again. Have a merry Christmas and Happy New Year. All the best!
For supercharged, the process is the same except you have to pull off both belts.
I knew my belt was getting a little on the worn side for a while now but I was just holding off until I did my intercooler in the spring. But with the thaw we've been getting this week and all the dampness and puddles, it actually fell off on me yesterday while I was driving. It's scary how hard it is to steer once that power steering is gone!
Luckily I had my tools and experience so I quickly hopped out and put it back on, then bought the same one as you. That's the last time I'll ever neglect my belt system though.
Damn! That is scary for sure, and having driven cars with power steering malfunctioning, I know exactly what you mean. Makes me wonder how people got by without it! Glad to hear you were able to get it resolved on the spot like that...many would have been stuck, unfortunately. Awesome stuff!
Do you need to do any maintenance to the tensioner (lube) to make sure it doesn’t bind and maintains good tension?
You shouldn't lubricate a belt tensioner. They can be lubricated for sure, but that normally requires disassembly and reinstallation, and if nothing is tightened correctly, it can lead to problems for sure. And if you try and spray it while it is still installed, the lubrication can get on the belt or other surrounding rubber components and cause premature failure (over a long time, though), or can cause the belt to slip or squeak. However, if you are confident in your skills and are cautious, you can lubricate them. It is just are your own discretion.
Good video ,
Thanks for posting it,
No problem at all
Thanks, very helpful
No problem at all. Glad to hear!
If you have a bad tensioner will it spin freely?
Indeed it could. If the tensioner is not doing its job, the belt will start to slip. If it gets really bad, the belt can really slip a lot. And the tensioner can have a good pulley that spins, but it's still not providing tension. It should be firm, and shouldn't be moving or vibrating when the car is running
Be careful not to push too much on the tensioner nut , because too much force can strip the the threads since it threads into aluminum..
Absolutely agree with you. They are pretty strong, but care should still be taken!
Very helpful with my 2001 Grand Prix GT, noticed a lot of newer parts on yours can't really find many at RockAuto or Amazon where do you shop?
There isn't a lot of new parts on there. A lot of it is original parts, but stuff like spark plugs, drive belt, wires, coils, came from rockauto. My suspension and brakes are a combination of stuff from Rockauto and ZZP. (ZZP is a great company too, lots of good stuff). Alternator is a custom build from a local shop (high amp alternator). Water pump and coolant L hoses are from Rockauto too. Strut tower bar was bought from a local here in Canada.
Both Rockauto and ZZP had supplied a good portion of parts for my car.
Thank you. Sincerely.
No problem at all!
I have a 2005 grand prix with a weird shifting issue. It revs a few times rather than shift into 2nd and 3rd then eventually shifts 4th. Then it goes into this weird mode where the engine noise changes and it makes a surging noise from 1st into 2nd gear and shifts hard then shifts hard and weird in 3rd and 4th gear. It doesn't rev in this "mode" it actually shifts rather than rev but shifts hard and weird every gear. When I turn off car and turn it on after 30 seconds this mode goes away. Only right when i drive the car for the 1st time for the day it shifts normal for a couple min. Does everybody know what this is? There is no check engine light on either.
Hmmmm....this is a tricky one. I would need to have the car in front of me to truly diagnose something like this.
Do you have a hard start, where you have to press the gas sometimes to get it started, or when it is surging, does it sometimes feel like it can die out?
I would probably start with 3 things, as there is a lot of things that can go wrong here.
1. If you have an ODBII reader, or know someone does, hook it up anyways. You may not see a Check Engine light, but there may be a code regardless.
2. I would look at doing a transmission filter change, and dump the old fluid and fill with fresh fluid.
3. I would clean the throttle body.
There is other things too, from minor to major. But just based on what you wrote, I would start with this, generally.
Is there anywhere where I can buy those black bars
Which black bars? do you have a timestamp so I can see which ones you are talking about?
@@NexusAuto at 3:30 you can see a little bit of it to your left next to that red casing
@@hunchoglo2050 oh ok, gotcha. Those are really hard to get there days. Even reputably online stores like Rockauto and ZZP don't seem to have them anymore. I think at this point, the best bet my be a junkyard.
Thanks for the video. I have an 05 GP Base. How and where did you find your strut tower bar? Did it line up with the hole already or did you have to mod it into place?
No problem at all. The strut tower bar has become very hard to get these days. I actually got it off a local here from a Grand Prix club that I am now part of.
It is worth noting that on its own, you need to mod it by drilling into the strut tower and installing them. The silver brackets do not come with them. You would install them the 2 bolts that you see on the end of the red bar, that holds in on to the silver brackets.
The brackets are from Don Rome. You can look him up online....they are custom ones only he makes. Not sure if he still does. I also got my door handle knobs from him too.
@@NexusAuto You can actually order a pair of these bars, new with mounting hardware, from any GM dealer (part 12498648) for fairly cheap. The rear one mounts with no modifications, the front one just needs the holes drilled instead of using the brackets (which are very expensive and hard to find these days it seems).
@@moozery I didnt know that! I had checked in with a local dealership here and they said they could not get it, so I was on the hunt for people selling it, and online. Took some time, but I got it. Thanks for the tip and part number
Thanks to everyone for pointing me where to go. Found both Don Rome and an online seller for the strut tower bar. Will be making a purchase/upgrade soon :)
@@EddieCorbijn no problem at all. Glad the info helped out, and you were able to find all the parts needed. Let me know how it goes!