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Recently, while driving to an important meeting (of course) in my ‘97 900SET (108,000 miles), my upper idler pulley sheared off and my belt snapped. It wasn't pretty. No major damage occurred, though, and I was able to limp home without it (a couple miles). I first contacted the dealer thinking it would be a cheap fix--I couldn't be more wrong. They wouldn't even consider replacing the upper idler without also replacing the center pulley also (not bad advice considering what I have read). Turns out the total including labor and tow would be around $400!!
Feeling a little abused, I took a look around the internet and stumbled upon Dean's post. I followed Dean's advice and got the belt (970K6 or GM 10-085-752) at Advance Auto for $15 and the upper idler pulley from eEuropart.com for about $25.00. Using sph3re’s great diagram (http://www.saabnet.com/tsn/bb/NG900/index.html?bID=81513), I had the car up and running in 30 minutes. It worked fantastic! It also solved a recent hesitation/idle drop problem I was having during warm-up and deceleration. My theory is that the pulley was so worn it was causing drag on the motor (opinions?). It also solved a whining noise I was hearing from the accessories (a common complaint).
My advice is to definitely use this method when overhauling your serpentine belt and any pulley failures. Also, definitely remove the airbox and passenger side wheel (as well as the wheel-well splash guard) as this makes installing and routing the belt a breeze. One thing I would also suggest is to have a 1/2 breaker bar on hand to release the tensioner. I read a brief description somewhere about using the breaker bar to release the tensioner, but it wasn't very detailed and was unclear about how you use the bar to move the pulley (note you are not prying the pulley as on some cars). On the top of the tensioner bracket (not the pulley) there is a square opening that exactly fits the 1/2 inch socket adapter at the end of breaker bar. Simply lock the bar into this hole as if the bracket was a socket itself and rotate towards the front of the car, releasing the tensioner. You can even lock the tensioner open (as Dean mentioned) with a thin nail or pin by opening the tensioner until two "holes" on the tensioner bracket align. Be sure to attach the breaker bar so the joint runs from left to right (of the car, not you) so you can apply torque towards the front of the car. Also, long breakers with ratcheted heads probably won't work for this.
I know Dean mentioned he didn't originally come up with this method, but all the same I feel I should thank him for his detailed instructions. Also thanks to sph3re for the fantastic diagram. With the belt completely gone and no other handy reference, it definitely saved a lot of time figuring out the proper installation of the belt.
Good Luck!
PaulG
posted by 68.54.8...
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