Any forum readers out there replaced the supercharger belt recently ?
Mine is now slipping under hard acceleration, i have a new belt to fit and have my own idea on how to change it, but the betting is one of you has a quicker easier method...would appreciate your help.
Thanks TS

 

I bought one of those belt changing bars for the job. The sort that is basically a flat bar with a square drive on the end.

It is thin enough to get on the tensioner and you should be able to get the belt off the S/C pulley without having to remove the fan assembly.

What I wasn't able to do was get the belt from behind the tensioner without loosening the retaining bolt. I've heard that you can do this but maybe the 4.0 is a little different than the 4.2 in that regard.

The retaining bolt is lower and you should be able to get on it with a normal ratchet, also without having to remove the fans.

 

Is there really so little room in there that a 1/2" breaker bar won't fit?

BTW: Where do get the belt? I just went to order one from NAPA and they didn't have one listed. I think I've run across it somewhere selling for over $50, which seemed a bit high. Is it?

Thanks guys.

 

With a normal breaker you will most likely get tangled up in the electrical connection for the right hand cooling fan.

RockAuto has belts and generally decent prices.

 

My supercharger belt started squealing when cold about a year ago. After the engine got warmer the squealing stopped. With the bonnet open the sound was so bad I thought there was something more serious wrong. Took the car to an official Jag service center and they said they knew exactly why it's doing this. Apparently Jaguar has modified the belt system at some point as there was a belt and pulley upgrade kit that had to be put into my 2003 XKR. I gave them the 'go ahead' and that fixed the problem once and for all.

Edit: Just had a look through my old emails and found this quote:
"Squeak coming from engine – Requires new modified supercharger belt, tensioner and idler pulley - £371.27+vat"

 

Has a service bulletin for the mod Kari (Ripper) mentioned ever been put out?

I have all the service records for my car up to about 2010 and see no mention of this.

If there is an SB, I'll risk taking the car to "my friend$" in Annapoli$ and getting it done.

 

The service bulliten is to replace the idler and tensioner and switch to a double sided belt.

No aftermarket brands make the one that is ribbed on both sides so you will be stuck with the ridiculously expensive Jaguar part.

My car had the bulliten done when I got the car and it still squeezed like a ****.

Glazed belts make noise, and replacing them is the best way to fix that. You can buy a lot of belts for the cost of the service bulliten.

 

+1

With some fiddling you can get the belt swapped without removing the idler even, I can actually do this within 5 to 10 minutes, with either the belt tool Charlie mentioned or a wooden stick (but better to do it with a tool). This way there is also no chance of spilling coolant (if you go for the fan removal option), as there is always a chance that you spill it on the belts, which can cause a squeal again.

When I had belt squeal in the past, I would use a power washer, and carefully clean the top and bottom of the belt (whilst the engine is running) to thoroughlyclean it, has always worked (at least for me, but obviously you must do this with care!).

Also while your at it, swap the bearing in the larger pulley (just above the main engine pulley), and if you take of the idler, also change that one as well as both are cheap, about 2 to 3 euros or so.