Referenced this for an emergency alternator swap tonight. For anyone watching this you can loosen the tensioner from the top, 15mm wrench right below alternator. Getting the belt back on was a bitch. Route it on the tensioner and everything except the idler pulley, then release tension from tensioner and slide over the idler pulley 👌🏼 Pulley #5 last. About 1 hour for alternator swap start to finish.
Dude your way of breaking the tensioner helps greatly. I don't see any other way to break tension other than by adjusting the tensioner pulley. You helped me out a lot.
If doing this for a squeaking belt. I would clean off all the engine grease with Gunk Engine cleaner and water hose and wipe pulleys down with ether, alcohol, or brake cleaner to degrease. Great video.
Be sure to check your idler pulley and replace if necessary. Mine had a lot of play in it. For tensioning of the new belt, I found it easiest to slide it onto pulley 7 last.
Thx For Posting The Vid I Did This On My 08 Fusion Replaced Tensioner n Belt After Watching Ur Vid n Was A Lot Easier Than I Thought Again Thx For Posting The Vid 🖒🖒
If you take the 3 bolts off of the top front pulley, then fit the belt on and re-bolt it while the tensioner is loosened, your belt goes on extremely easy.
You would need someone or something to hold the tensioner if you weren't replacing the old tensioner. My top front pulley broke so I had nothing holding the tensioner back so that wouldn't work in my case.
@@innergame05 You can use a breaker bar and it can hold itself on part of the control arm to maintain a loosened tensioner. Then remove the top front idler pulley's three bolts to apply the belt. With the tensioner still hooked on the control arm, once you get the belt on the top front idler pulley, replace the idler pulley and tighten the bolts.
@@justins8768 as far as I know the only fix is to purchase a new intake manifold. The valves are made of plastic which deteriorates quickly over time. It can potentially create issues if the valves break off and pieces make it into the engine, but mine has been running fine for years as is.
@@ibrahimalghamdi94 I appreciate your insight on this. My grandson just bought one that we'll be doing the serpentine belt on, and I noticed he had some oil leakage around the intake manifold, so I told him replacing the gasket is an easy and cheap fix, but sounds to me like the wise move is to replace the manifold while I'm in there. I'll have to price one as I doubt while writing this it will be cheap to him. THANK YOU!!
Thank you! I definitely won’t be replacing this myself but I want to at least be able to look at it and see if there’s any obvious wear before I take it in. ☺️
I just did mines today took me about 1 hour and 30mins belt kept sleeping off top pulley when I was trying to get it on the tensioner pulley just takes patience but very easy and money saver if you do it yourself.
@@Carguy4lif3 I did. I wedged a wrench between the tensioner pulley and part of the block and pulled, allowing it to put slack on and let me slide the belt onto the last pulley.
@@purpledoge4466 You have a belt tensioner which he showed in the video, you take a ratchet and release the tension and remove the belt. Installation is the reverse order of removal.
I just did this without removing the tire, I put the car on ramps since I had other work to do. However removing the tire will allow more room to work with. For those who will do this alone, you might struggle. I tried for hours before figuring it out. Here are some tips: remove the plastic cover, this will allow more room. Use a breaker bar ( a ratchet one is a plus). I used a 1/2" breaker- it didn't have a ratchet, but still worked. The trick is to get the tool at high enough angle to loosen the tensioner all the way down. There are marker lines on the tensioner, you will have to get all the way to the last marker to get the belt on. Save the water pump pulley for the last, it may be easier. You can put the breaker bar on the notch on the frame, but that may not fully release the tension. I did with one hand on the breaker bar and the other hand adjusting the belt.
Bahaha.... "It's probably like, an '08 or something like that." 😂😂😂 Literally looking at buying a used '08 Ford Fusion right now for $525 with a broken idler pully, so thanks for this video, lol!
It's a good car, mine's Raggedy as a MF, pretty sure someone hit something (nothing major) as there's dents in the door and the bumper is screwed on. But it's at 278K and still drives mostly great! Durable car for sure!
@@christopherbarber288 Nice! :) I ended up getting myself a 2009 Nissan Altima, which I still drive to this day. I like it. ^_^ I had the 2012 Nissan Altima prior to this, so it's almost identical. Thing I like the most is the push-to-start button, because I'm an UberEats driver going in and out of the car often, so it's nice to be able to just keep the keys in my pocket!
I have one too. It's got 165k on it and I've had it for 6 years and knock on wood but I've only had to do the water pump and the idler (both of which are pretty easy to do). Solid vehicle for sure.
Thank you sir. Short sweet to the point. Thumbs up and I hit like on every single comment. Hopefully it pushes your video up the algorithm. Peace ✌️ brother
My father and fiancé hate me for asking them for help. Everyone that I’ve spoken to about fixing my alternator (oil leak ruined it) has rolled their eyes and laughed at me when speaking about fixing it 🤣 almost done though
My belt tension for my 2010 Fusion needs replacing. The shop says the bearings are blown out. They gave me an estimate with parts and labor of $350. Is this typical or are they trying to screw me?
Both. Parts are cheap labor is expensive. If you have a good job and don't need to worry about it let the shop handle it, otherwise buy a parts manual for your car and learn some basics. I've changed turbos, belts, alternators, power steering pumps and helped with a transmission all from manuals and RU-vid. Wish I was richer then I could afford not to worry about price and probably have a car that wouldn't need so much 🤦♂️. It's all pretty easy if you're patient
@@danielmarkulic9399 I was in the same space in my 20's and 30's. Now that I'm a bit older I still do a lot of my own work even though I can now afford to pay a shop. If the work isn't too heavy (my garage is set up pretty decently) I do it, but if it's heavy I just send it to the shop. Keep doing what you're doing and before long you'll be in the same situation. I'm quite sure of it.
I wouldn't worry too much about the chatter from the engine. My wife has the same car with the same engine and it's sounded like that since we bought it, back in 2018.
i was just working on this on my fusion, and I just cannot get the new belt on, I have a feeling the tensioner I bought may not be the correct one for the car. Before I loosen the tensioner to get the belt one, theres gotta be like an inch that the belt is short....I dont recall it taking that much movement to take belt off the old tensioner, but I cannot turn the tensioner enough to have the space to slip the belt over it...I have check it over and over and my routing of the belt is correct. Im gonna go back out tomorrow morning, pull the new tensioner off and compare it to the old one.
@@alexgonzalez7260 inside the intake manifold there are plastic flaps in each runner all connected and controlled through a long steel rod, controlled by the intake runner control actuator, plastic flaps become loose on rod and make a loud clacking noise which many mis diagnose as an engine knock or valve noise
yy z hmmmm that might be that fluttering noise when I accelerate. I can hear it right in that general area too. I had to replace a valve that connect from the manifold after it got brittle and broke last year.
Other than the wheel, did you have to remove any plating from within the wheel well? I have a 2007 and it looks like I can't even get to the tensioner without getting the car up on a lift, even when I took the wheel off.
The Freesher: you said the belt went on "just fine with no problems there"...then you noted it took about an hour just to put on the belt. I have tried putting on a new belt for a 2007 Mercury Milan 2.3L before, but eventually called AAA to tow it to the mechanics. Was the tensioner pulley the last part you put the belt on? Any suggestions-I could get it close but never able to slide it over the tensioner pulley. Tried to put the belt on other pulleys, but the belt always seem to slip off some other pulley. I'm going to change tensioner pulley and idler pulley soon: theres a vibration and a squeak. You did a really nice job on the video- thank you. Just wish I could have witnessed your challenge of putting on the belt.
It’s been a while, I THINK I put it on the power steering pulley last, but it may have been the tensioner. I have a specific tool for belt tensioners that make it easy to put on from just about any angle. If you are limited to wrenches and ratchets, just try with the pulleys you are close to, which will probably be the tensioner or the crank shaft. Worst case scenario, try one without ribs,
Is a bad tension pulley easy to see or hear on a 2014 Fusion? My wife came back from a Firestone oil change with the check list saying the tensioner was bad. I have not looked yet. Nasty snow and cold as **** outside.
The tapping/clicking noise is the fuel injectors. These engines are 100% Mazda engines built in Japan. They aren’t your ordinary 4-cyl. They will outlast the car. It isn’t valve, intake, vacuum etc leaks. The injectors are just noisy.
This helped, but what is that big black plastic air channel going over to the exhaust side of the engine for? Air pump for emissions during startup? My wife has a 2011 and hers doesn't have that thing on it. I am watching this video even though I am a mechanic because recon saves hours. So thanks.
Ok sooo the new tensioner didn’t work out so I put my old one back in along with a new serpentine belt , no more squeaking yay 😀 honestly the hardest part is putting the damn belt back on.
if it moves easily or has slop in it. that said, I always replace tensioners when doing serpentine belts because they're cheap and I don't want to be in there again any sooner than I need to be.
Is it best practice to put the shell back on and lower the car before starting? I replaced the belt but it comes off during starting. I'm planning to go ahead and change the tensioner too while I have the wheel off
+Steve Kennon thank you! And no I I haven't unfortunately, I wish I could help you out more. If the water pump it stater goes out on this one I will probably be the first to know about it and will throw a video up for sure!
About to attempt this lol hoping this is our problem. Husband was driving This morning and engine and battery light popped on and then he lost almost all power. Was able to nurse it back home and the belt is completely off.... Just had belt replaced less than a month ago and they did not replace the tensioner so we are hoping replacing it will fix the problem.
+melissa allen that is what happened with this car as well. I had put the belt back on previously but told the customer that I knew for a fact that it needed a tensioner, sure enough it came off another time so they let me replace the tensioner this time around lol hope this video helps you get the job done!
The Feesher this is litteraly what just happened to me. Finally the loud squeaky noise ive had for a while got worse and all of the sudden, no noise. Battery light comes on and soon sfter the engine light. Manage to drive it homd and turms out the belt is completly off and looks like a pulley in the back is misaligned/wobbly. Im guess ill have to switch out the pulley. Sucks that i cant just fix this without a carjack though. Thanks for the video
If I had known my 2007 Fusion was so compact and this difficult to work on, I honestly would not have gotten one. Lest, it’s my first car :/. Everyone rolls their eyes when I ask about repairs 🤣
only paid 1000$ for mine, just did the valve cover gaskets, plugs, coil packs, n brakes. Honestly its a real easy car to work on. The belt is probably the most time consuming, frustrating job to do on these cara lol.
Also 6pk2250 is the belt to get trust me lol autozone/advance auto claim other belts will fit I went threw all of only the 6pk2250 will fit like a glove
This is an old video now, but I just watched it, if this car is a diesel, that noise tapping clicking is a leaking injector. You also have a quite an oil leak from what I could see.
Hey man what size bolts are on the tensioner? My girlfriends car just threw the belt and gonna be tackling it after work today :( ** they look like 13mm?
I did it today without removing the tire. But that configuration is different from my 3.0 where this one look like everything goes top to down, mine goes from back to front. I am curious about the tension pulley and sliding it on that way, never tried.
my ford fusion runs awesome on the highway but when i slow down around 20mph or to a stop light it shakes and squeals and the rpm moves up and down below the 1 as if it gonna shut off put into reverse and to drive. a couple times it has shut down on me while back out of my driveway. but starts back up just fine
+Warren Ducheneaux that's really weird. I honestly have no idea without looking at it, but if it shakes and struggles until being shifted a few times I would say it is something transmission related, possibly a torque converter, that is just a guess from the info given though
Good question, I'm only replying so I get to see a real answer if posted. I'll take a stab though, 5 is the idler and 3 is the tensioner. I do know an idler's job is to change belt direction to give another pulley more purchase on the belt.
Thats a lifter. Those cars and even the mercury milan, focus... all have shitty gaskets on the valve covers. Bet your spark plug wells are full of oil too. Lifter is cause of running with a leak to long.
@@jimm8596 i can say wrking on these, it does make a difference to look up the code on the door telling you what motor amd transmission you have. My personal milan is a mazda engine, and an aissin-seiko 6 speed. Meaning i cant flush the transmission rather i have to drain it do the process and fill it 5 times to flush it. But the mazda my god the leaks of oil that build up every time by that damn overhead cam sensor and where does it go, straight to the alternator thats where. And changing that alternator is a bitch, the rest of the oil will go to the motor mounts and deteriorate them to be replaced at the bmw shop where i work. Wrking on the 3 liter mazda is like working on a bmw. Its that frustrating and the kids always lose that damned star bit for the tensioner. The only other problem is the thin wiring mazda used in the mazda 3liter engines. Just like that one night the headlights caught fire on one side. Two weeks later the other side. Then cam the damned wire harness on the engine. Just rewired that last week completely from scratch. Dont forget the tee on that heater hose amd make sure when you take it off no degraded plastic bits get to that water pump. The aissin transmission though, running strong at 380k miles. No complaints there. This car has the taxi package and was a geico car. I sold it to myself at the dealership with 56k miles. I use this car as a daily plus my LLC for remodeling as all the seats fold down i can take the wet saw, table saw, and two mitre saws plus the stand and all the tools. Terrible milage in the city for fwd. The other one was better with rwd but of coarse the misses wrecked that one all to hell, not a scratch on her though with a tow truck and the wall on I 40.
@@nicholassousa2932 Mine did the same yesterday. I was happy because that is why my electronic power steering was not working ( about a $1,000.00 fix vs. under $100.00 ).
+Pape Laye I'm sorry, I do not have that info. I would recommend going to the parts store and just asking for the correct belt for your model and year.