Hi All!

I have a quick question. Has anyone replaced their serpentine belt on their 3S before? I need to do it relatively soon and was wondering how hard it was and if there were any tricks anyone knew of? I have done it in a previous car, but it was an 89 bonneville and I just basically laid inside the hood to reach all around but this car has a lot less room. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-Brandon

 

Nope but dang. How many miles do you have on your 08?

 

I have about 42,200 miles on my'08. But for some reason some of the belt is burnt. It is slipping on one of the pulleys so it makes a sound and part of the belt is brown. So I am going to replace both belts and wipe the pulleys down.

For some reason the aftermarket AC belt was around 70, but the OEM one was 20. So thats what I am going with!

How many miles do you have on your '08?

 

That's odd.

I'm at around 36k miles.

 

I'm at almost 67,000 miles on my '08. Belts look fine. Sometimes when it's moist out it'll make a very faint squeal noise, nothing major though. No cracks or pits in the belt grooves. The smooth side is also brown-ish, but doesn't look like anything major. I'm guessing I'll prolly do the usual 90k mile belt change like I've been instructed in the past.

EDIT: At the rate I'm going I bet I'm going to have the highest mileage M3 here lol

 

make sure all the pulleys & tensioner are aligned - that can cause slippage / discoloration.
to your question, no there's no tricks, though if I recall the alternator (smallest pulley) is the easiest to get the belt around as the last pulley when putting the belt on. Do make sure the belt is properly seated in the grooves as well.

 

BTW do our cars have a timing chain or belt? (2.0L tho, not 2.3L)

EDIT: nm... chain