Tuscan mk1 Aircon belt

[Dalamar]

Well I knew it was going to be tricky changing the aircon belt but not as bad as I thought.

The issue is that there is very little clearance between the aircon pulley and the crankshaft damper. Less than the thickness of the ribbed belt. So here's how I managed it.

First, loosen off and remove the 4x cap head screws holding the aircon pulley wheel to the compressor.
Slacken off the compressor bracket bolts and locking bolt.
Remove the old belt from the pulleys.
Now the tricky bit is that the belt can't naturally slide past the damper, even with the aircon pulley loose on the drive spindle. See pic below.

To gain enough clearance you have to use a large screwdriver or piece of wood and carefully pry against the locking bolt (pic below with arrow) to lever the pulley against the drive spindle from behind. It makes more sense when it's in front of you on the car.

Here is a pic from Powers' website showing the back of the pulley if that helps visualise the issue.

Now with a little extra mm or two, the belt can now be slid past and the new belt slid back the same way.

Once the new belt is over the pulley wheel, a little knock on the wheel and the pulley is loose again and everything is fine to rebuild in reverse.
I found tightening the locking bolt easier by rotating the engine a little bit so that one of the pulley holes lined up with the locking bolt and then with the belt tensioned (piece of wood levering against the block) nip up the 13mm bolt.
All ok in the end and another job done.

[Modrich]

Thanks for sharing Dalamar I'll be doing this at some point when I re-fit the compressor, I didn't think it was so involved...