Your car's engine drive belts run accessories, including your power steering and air conditioning. They also run the charging system that keeps your battery charged. These drive belts are made of composite materials. They work hard and will stretch, fray, crack and become brittle over time. Eventually they will need to be replaced.
Turn the engine of the car off and open the hood. Secure the hood with the prop rod.
Locate your car engine drive belts. Most accessory drive belts are driven by the crank shaft pulley and stretch across both sides of the front of the engine.
Inspect the belts by turning them sideways and looking for cracks, glazing or visible signs of fraying. You may not be able to adjust stretched belts. Belts that have stretched may not be able to be adjusted. They will have to be replaced.
Replace the belts by loosening the mounting and retaining bolts or nuts on the accessory that it drives, using either a wrench or a socket wrench. Use a pry bar or large screwdriver to pry the accessory towards the belt, allowing the belt to loosen enough to come off the pulley. Remove the belt from the crankshaft pulley. It may be necessary to remove other accessory belts to remove the bad belt from the crankshaft pulley, depending on where it is located.
Install the new belt by positioning it on the crankshaft pulley and then slipping it over the pulley of the accessory. Use your pry bar or screwdriver to pry the accessory from the belt to tighten the slack.
Adjust the belt tension so that there is no more than 1/2" deflection, up or down. Do not over tighten. Reinstall any other belts you removed and adjust them using the same procedure.
Start the engine and turn on the accessory run by the belt that you just changed. Check that the belt or belts that you removed are not slipping under the engine load. If there is a slipping belt, turn off the engine, readjust the belt and check again.
Remove the prop road and close the hood securely.
