Broken monte
Monte Of The Month -- March 2013
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 8,442
From: michigan
If your talking about the belt that runs the alternator, water pump and other engine accessories then no. It is a ribbed belt so if you get it on all the way it will line right up. Also the tensioner makes keeps the tension tight so you don't have to adjust it.
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 12,607
From: Mentor, Ohio
I agree with everyone here, get yourself a new belt and do it yourself. Paying a tow for a garage guy to spend say 10 minutes? NAH!
Heck, depending how far home is, there are ways of driving a car home with no belt. But if you can get a belt and the tools (I think you just need a bar to move the tensioner pulley), you can do it on the side of the road OR get the car to a near by parking lot.
The 3100/3400 belt on a W-Body is cake. Doing it on an N-Body you need a jack to support the engine while you take out a motor mount (silly design).
The belt has nothing to do with timing, most cars have the routing on a sticker under the hood (if not, tons of places to get that on the internet and print). The ONLY thing to be sure of once it's routed is that the grooves of the belt are all seated in the grooves of the pulleys (other wise the belt will walk off). And thanks to the tensioner pulley, it self adjusts to the appropriate tightness (I remember having to tighten belts manually, I over tightened them once on my Camaro, a good quick rev and they popped off).
Heck, depending how far home is, there are ways of driving a car home with no belt. But if you can get a belt and the tools (I think you just need a bar to move the tensioner pulley), you can do it on the side of the road OR get the car to a near by parking lot.
The 3100/3400 belt on a W-Body is cake. Doing it on an N-Body you need a jack to support the engine while you take out a motor mount (silly design).
The belt has nothing to do with timing, most cars have the routing on a sticker under the hood (if not, tons of places to get that on the internet and print). The ONLY thing to be sure of once it's routed is that the grooves of the belt are all seated in the grooves of the pulleys (other wise the belt will walk off). And thanks to the tensioner pulley, it self adjusts to the appropriate tightness (I remember having to tighten belts manually, I over tightened them once on my Camaro, a good quick rev and they popped off).
Monte Of The Month -- June 2012
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,026
From: Iowa
Give the belt a try. I always find it satisfying when I can do the repair myself instead of having the mechanic do it. Good luck
I did get the car home, tommorow i'll go pick up a belt and take a stab at it, atleast this didn't happen on one of my school trips....
Monte Of The Month -- March 2011
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,835
From: Shelby, MI
It sucks that you had a little car trouble, but in the world of car troubles, this is nothing and is an EASY fix. All you need is a little grunt to move that tensioner pulley.
I think you were getting confused with the serpentine belt (that every Monte has) with the timing belt that only came with the 3.4L DOHC v6. The timing belt has everything to do with timing, but the 3100/3400/3500/3800/3900/5300 Montes don't have a timing belt, they have a timing chain.
I think you were getting confused with the serpentine belt (that every Monte has) with the timing belt that only came with the 3.4L DOHC v6. The timing belt has everything to do with timing, but the 3100/3400/3500/3800/3900/5300 Montes don't have a timing belt, they have a timing chain.
Keane I think you're thinking of a timing belt and I'm not sure, but these engines probably have timing chains? Anyway, you can't access that to mess up the timing. Serpentine belts aren't too bad to put on, thanks to the diagram under the hood.