The Chevy Suburban models have a serpentine belt on the front of the engine that runs all of the engine accessories. The crankshaft pulley turns the serpentine belt around the other accessory pulleys when the engine is running. This one belt runs the alternator, power steering pump, air conditioner pump and the water pump. If the serpentine belt is beginning to develop cracks on the inner part of the belt, the belt will have to be replaced before it breaks.
Park the Chevy Suburban and open the hood.
Look on the top of the black plastic shield that covers the top of the radiator for the serpentine belt-routing diagram. Use this diagram to route the new serpentine belt. In there is no belt-routing diagram, use a pencil and draw out the routing method of the old belt on a piece of notebook paper.
Look on the front passenger side of the engine for the serpentine belt tensioner. The tensioner on the Chevy Suburban is located on the far left-hand side of the engine. There is a small 3/8-inch square hole in the tensioner arm.
Slide the square end of the serpentine belt tensioner tool into the square hole on the tensioner arm. Turn the tensioner to the left to release the tension from the belt. Slide the belt off of the tensioner pulley.
Remove the serpentine belt from the other accessory pulleys. Pull the serpentine belt out of the engine bay and discard the belt.
Route the new serpentine belt around the bottom of the crankshaft pulley. Then, put the serpentine belt onto each of the other accessory pulleys as directed by the diagram.
Turn the tensioner am to the left again with the serpentine belt tensioner tool. Then, slide the belt onto the tensioner arm pulley. Slowly let the tensioner go back to its original position and remove the tool.
Crank the Chevy Suburban and look over the serpentine belt with the motor running. Make sure that the belt is completely inside of all pulleys. Let the motor run for about one minute and turn the engine off. Close the hood.
