When replacing the serpentine belt on your Honda Accord EX, make sure the new belt matches the old one in width and shape to avoid noise and slippage. It is normal for the new belt to be slightly shorter in length as the old one has stretched from wear. Also, make a note of the exact routing of the belt on your particular vehicle or check the belt-routing label located on the engine compartment. Then follow these steps to replace it.
Park your car in a safe place and open the hood.
Locate the drive belt auto-tensioner on the upper part of the engine. The tensioner is an idler pulley, since it does not drive any accessory on your vehicle. Its only function is to give the belt its proper tension.
Insert a long boxed-end wrench on the auto-tensioner pulley bolt of the appropriate size and slowly turn the idler pulley to release the tension on the drive belt. If you have a 2.4L engine model, turn the pulley clockwise; if you have a 3.0L engine model, turn the pulley counterclockwise. Slide the belt off any pulley located on the upper part of the engine; then slowly release the tensioner pulley and remove the belt from the engine.
Check every pulley run by the drive belt and make sure they are free of dirt, debris and built-up material; if necessary, use a wire brush to clean the pulleys.
Compare the old belt to the new one and make sure it is of the same width and configuration.
Install the new belt beginning with the crankshaft pulley at the bottom and center of the engine and work your way up to the last pulley; follow your notes or the routing diagram on the engine compartment. If necessary, ask a helper to hold the belt stretched next to the last pulley on the upper part of the engine. Using the boxed-end wrench, slowly rotate the auto-tensioner pulley in the same direction you turned it to release the belt. Then slide the belt over the last pulley, and slowly release the auto-tensioner.
Make sure the belt is properly seated between the flanges of every accessory pulley.
