'05 'S' serpentine belt

[Mudhen]

Any of you guys have to do this yet?

When I bought my '05 S [used] with 12k miles on it I called the dealer and asked what maintenances it would need.  'Nothing'.  Huh?  Not 30k...what about 100k?  'Nope, nothing'.

I was changing my oil the other day and noticed some string hanging down - hey, my belt is trashed - wonder when that should have been done?



Poke around online - 60k for 'S's?  And if it breaks the tensioner takes out the crank pulley?   :-\

I tried fabbing up the special tool needed and failed.  I guess some hardened roll pins would have been needed instead of chopped off nails.  I ended up buying the tool for $114, but I figure I would have paid that to have it replaced by someone else anyway, and I have the tool now when I do it again at 340k.  Not sure if you can tell, but the real deal is the one on the left.



Of course, in typical Mudhen fashion, the new belt was for a 'Works' S....which I didn't realize at first...so it was 1/10000000th of an inch too short.  ARGH!!!

Oh well, just glad it didn't break.  And happy to have gotten 110k MORE miles than recommended.  At this point I'm looking at my car like a strength test...171,000 miles - I change the oil with Mobil 1 0/30 between 10-15k miles and don't top it up between.  Generally I have 1.5qts or so left - what a waste, should probably wait a little longer.  I did replace the plugs/air filter at 129,000...they were nasty but I was still getting the same 27mpg as the weekend I drove it home from OK.   4.gif

If any of you guys need the tool let me know - pay for shipping/return shipping and it's yours to borrow - I might never need it again and I think it's different than my wife's '09...

Pat

[94touring]

Did my 05S a few years ago and believe I used a crow bar of some sort.  Wasn't fun.   I too bought the wrong belt at first.