I have 106,000 miles on my accord and was looking in the owner's manual as to when to change the drive belt and it said just to inspect regularly. Well I am having trouble inspecting it because of the poor picture in the book. Can someone show me where the tensioner arrow is through a picture or just explain it to me?


Thanks!

 

I don't have a good picture of the auto tensioner. There may be a picture of how the belts are routed under your hood or inside the driver's door jamb.

I am guessing you want to inspect the serpentine belt. Follow the belt around the pulleys and figure out the tensioner by process of elimination. There will be a pulley for the alternator, harmonic balancer (big pulley on the engine), and the a/c compressor. The grooved side of the belt will wrap around those pulleys.

That should only leave one pulley. The tensioner pulley will have a smooth surface and touch the smooth side of the belt.

 

Considering one belt runs everything at 100K I would change out the belt regardless of what it looks like.

 

I don't have a photo & don't own that car anymore. But IIRC, look on the tensioner arm, where it pivots against the fixed parts on the engine. The "arrow" looks like a small triangle cast into the tensioner, alongside to a rectangle so it points to a spot within the rectangle. If the arrow is pointing outside of the rectangle, then the belt is stretched too long.

Of course, a 7-year-old belt is probably hard & slippery, even if the LENGTH is within spec.

 

does the 2003 not use a chain like the 2006? i know the 2006 4 cylinder uses a timing chain...

 

yes it uses a timing chain,starting in 2003 4 cylinders ,,, but he is talking about the outer belt

 

Does anyone know where I can find a step by step process for replacing the drive belt? Honda dealer quoted me $133 to replace it so it must be easy right? :/ The belt costs 44 at the dealer.

 

There are just a few steps, you put a wrench on the slack adjuster nut and use something to add to the wrench length (small pipe or another wrench (looping a box over part of an open end)) as there isn’t enough room for a ratchet and socket and pull it clockwise and remove the belt. You will most likely need to see a chart of how the belt is run and most belts manufacturers have one to view on the web. I have taken my 2003 Accord belt off a few times and find it a pain as the wrench gets in the way of putting the belt back on, maybes someone on here has some tips.

 

When I was at the honda dealer I was given a sheet with steps on how to change the part I needed to change...did it come from a service manual of sorts? Does anyone know where I can find one?