Alternator Belt

[z_man1234]

Yesterday I was driving home when my charge battery light came on, right after I noticed this all the electronical components stopped working. I figured it was my old battery and just headed home. When I checked out the problem at home I saw that my alternator belt had broken off. So today I went to autozone and picked up a new one. Only problem is that I am not 100% sure how to put it on. I think I could, but there seems to be another belt in the way and I'm not sure how to remove that belt or what it goes to. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I have an '90 Ford Festiva L

[GenevaDirt]

An L with air? You will need to remove that belt if that is the case. There is an idler pulley you need to adjust to remove the air conditioner belt. Then there is a bolt above the alternator and one that it pivots on below it. You can get to all of it from the top. Pretty easy.
Maybe should pick up a Haynes manual on your next trip out.

[z_man1234]

Thank you for the info! Will try to adjust the pulley for the air conditoiner belt.

[Pu241]

Z Man1234, you don't know it but hopefully you dodged a bullet!
When you lose your ALT belt you also loosepower to your water pump, which if you had very far to drive could have over heated the engine and warped the head.
I was unfortunate at the time of my belt failure to be driving directly into the sun and never saw the any of the idiot lights come on.
My first indication of loss of coolant circulation came as white smoke was trailing me!
DO NOT drive this car to a McParts store to get a new ALT belt unless it is very close.
Mr. GDirt is correct you will need to remove the AC compressor belt before you can put the new ALT/Water pump belt on.

[z_man1234]

Wow! I'm glad I didn't have far to drive lol. The engine seems fine. And I was smart enough not to drive it to autozone lol. Drove a different vehicle because the nearest part store is roughly 40 miles from my house! Any tips for removing the AC belt?

[GenevaDirt]

there is a nut that you will see when you look down at the compressor. You just have to turn it and the idler pulley loosens up. I forget which way though...I think it is opposite normal.

[z_man1234]

I just got back in from working on it. I found the nut, tried loosing it but it seems Zeus must have tightened it or its just rusted on. I sprayed some WD-40 on it and am gonna let it soak in over night (its getting dark).

[Pu241]

If you get a chance pick-up some PB Blaster way better than WD-40.
WD-40 was never formulated as a penetrating liquid anyway.

[JohnGunn]

All good advice.

So that's two things you need to put on your shopping list.
1. Haynes manual. Used at Amazon.com will be the cheapest.
2. PB Blaster

With those two items you are well on your way to whatever it is we are doing here.

John Gunn
Coronado, CA

[Safety Guy]

Also, watch ebay for a Festiva factory shop manual to buy if you plan on running Festivas for awhile. I'm not sure what they're going for now but keep a loose eye on the prices so that someday when you see a really good deal you can snatch it.

One good thing is that any shop manual from '90 to '93 should do the trick. The only ones to avoid would be for the '88 carbed models, since there was no FI at all that year. The '89 manuals should cover the carbed manual transaxle models and the FI automatics, which may or may not tell you what you need to know.

I'm into our little cars big time, so I have several years of shop manuals, plus Haynes, plus a couple of other Mazda manuals from Haynes and another company.

Karl

[batstiva]

^ One can never have too many Festiva manuals. Just received my 89 Factory manual, and 89 EVTM manual. Waiting on my 90 manuals now.
I figure those, plus a Hayne's in every Festiva should have me covered, for now.

[1988redfordfestiva]

i'd use liquid wrench its better for loosen seized bolts

[z_man1234]

alright I will pick up a hayne's manual if I come across one. I'm in the process of changing the belt, but I think I may have got the wrong size. I loosened the alternator slider thing and slid it as close as possible and I still can't manage to get it on. Might have to go get me a bigger belt.

[batstiva]

alright I will pick up a hayne's manual if I come across one. I'm in the process of changing the belt, but I think I may have got the wrong size. I loosened the alternator slider thing and slid it as close as possible and I still can't manage to get it on. Might have to go get me a bigger belt.

It's been a while since I've messed with a Festiva with AC, so bear with me. Did you get the AC compressor belt off? If so, not to ask a stupid question, but are you sure you are routing the Alt. belt correctly? If the AC belt is still in place, then that would be your problem. Not doubting what you say, just making sure.

P.S. If you absolutely can't find a Hayne's anywhere else, let me know. Pretty much all of the McParts shops around here have them, since there are still so many Festivas on the road around here.

[JohnGunn]

alright I will pick up a hayne's manual if I come across one.

Am I wrong, or do I detect a certain reluctance on your part to accept this advice?

If that is the case, your car problems are the least of your worries.

John Gunn
Coronado, CA