Serpentine belt and tensioner

[rocco1504]

Hi
My little car is a 2009 EX that's done 45k and has a full service history.
 I've been getting a strange noise from the left side front of the car.
 It first started if I pulled away a bit too lively, but now it's happening a bit more and I've come to the conclusion that it's the serpentine belt.
 Now I wanted to ask as I'm not sure this belt has ever been changed, if I change out the belt,  should I be looking to do the tensioner at the same time ??, because the one on there obviously isn't taking up the slack.
 Any advice would be very helpful.

[GBH]

Isn't the belt on the right (not left)?

[Keekster71]

Hi
My little car is a 2009 EX that's done 45k and has a full service history.
 I've been getting a strange noise from the left side front of the car.
 It first started if I pulled away a bit too lively, but now it's happening a bit more and I've come to the conclusion that it's the serpentine belt.
 Now I wanted to ask as I'm not sure this belt has ever been changed, if I change out the belt,  should I be looking to do the tensioner at the same time ??, because the one on there obviously isn't taking up the slack.
 Any advice would be very helpful.

I've replaced the belt on more than one Jazz. The chances are the belt is slipping as the rubber will have gone hard with age, and the tensioner will be fine at that mileage.  Once you have removed the belt spin the tensioner and if the tensioner is worn the bearing will sound rough.  If its smooth then I wouldn't bother changing the tensioner.  If you are doing the work yourself, the job of replacing the belt can be tricky.  I found that not all belts are the same length.  I found the genuine honda belt to be shorter than the after market ones, and is very tight to fit.  It took a lot of swearing to fit even a slightly longer belt.  You have to walk it around the water pump pulley to fit it.  The easiest belt to fit (ive done it a few times) is an Ina Belt (1147mm), which I bought off ebay.  There are you tube videos showing you how to change the belt.  I used a long spanner and cable tied it at the top to hold it whilst I changed the belt.  If you use the INA belt its an easy job.

[rocco1504]

Thanks Keekster71
Thanks for the advice.
 I know it might sound like a dumb question, but doesn't using a longer belt reduce the life of the belt ?, as surely it's not going to take as long to stretch to failure/ slipping point.
Just an observation really.

 Thanks again

[Keekster71]

Not a dumb question. The belt tension is still within the acceptable range with the longer belt on the wear indicator.  If the belt doesn't last as long I'm not bothered as its a ten minute job to change it again.  Fitting a tighter one on the other hand, took two of us to change it, much swearing, and three times as long lying on the ground.  Making an easy job a total effin nightmare!  I take the view that the belt being that tight is putting excessive pressure on the bearing, plus its really easy to damage the belt fitting it.    I've done 6k miles on the new belt without any problems.

[rocco1504]

Not a dumb question. The belt tension is still within the acceptable range with the longer belt on the wear indicator.  If the belt doesn't last as long I'm not bothered as its a ten minute job to change it again.  Fitting a tighter one on the other hand, took two of us to change it, much swearing, and three times as long lying on the ground.  Making an easy job a total effin nightmare!  I take the view that the belt being that tight is putting excessive pressure on the bearing, plus its really easy to damage the belt fitting it.    I've done 6k miles on the new belt without any problems.

Hi again Keester
 I just wanted to ask, concerning this particular problem, as you appear to know a bit more about Jazz's than i do.
 I've just realised that the noise I'm getting is coming from the opposite side to the Serpentine belt, so I don't actually think it can be the belt.
 I get the noise mostly in that split second when you pull up to a junction, your in 2nd, you see it's clear and you immediately pull away, without changing down as you've only stopped for a micro second and not lost your revs or momentum, it's a bad habit i picked up from driving faster cars and it's at that moment I get sort of squeaky noise, like a wood door stuck in it's frame coming from the passenger side front.
 Could it be the clutch ?, as the clutch seems fine.
 Problem is that I don't have a clue how Honda have put these things together or how they work,  I'm used to much older vehicles.
 Any advice would be really appreciated.

Paul

[Keekster71]

Yeah, could well be the clutch pulling away in second.  A slight bit of slip as it engages.  If its the original clutch and done plenty of miles use do get a build up of clutch dust/material on the flywheel and the flywheel also becomes a bit polished which could cause that noise.  I'd ignore it unless you actual find the clutch is starting to slip when pulling away on hills etc.