In all honesty, though, it's still the easiest car I've worked on to date. Upper strut bushings were a breeze, and doing all that fuel stuff in the trunk was super simple with the layout the way it was!

 

That being said, I just finished this belt job. That was the MOST DIFFICULT accessory belt job I've ever done. Absolutely horrendous!!!!! And the big cat ate one of my 8" 3/8 drive extensions which got dropped into the fan cowling.

I made sure to tension the belts properly (jeeze, tensioning them properly takes 5X as long as just leaving them loose!). Hopefully they will last me a while!

 

Hello,

I just wanted to revive this old thread in hopes of getting some sound advice from others who have recently been through similar experiences.

I have a slightly (but visibly) worn belt that is in need of replacement and others which are slightly loose. The car is a recent purchase and was left moderately untended while recently in storage for a few months and thus as part of a general precautionary replacement and preventative repair blitz, I want to replace all of the belts.

I found a decently cheap fan belt kit at welch enterprises (Welsh Enterprises, Inc - Jaguar XJ6 Series III (80-87) Engine Drive Belts Parts - Fan Belt Kit) but I'm unfamiliar with the general process of belt replacement.
This was the available information from my copy of the manual but the diagram isn't incredibly clear. On a similar thread, Carlos notes that the Factory Shop Manual has a step-by-step on replacing all belts simultaneously but the below diagram was the closest thing I could find to such a tutorial. I'm sure I am simply looking in the wrong place or otherwise mistaken and any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Well, it is understandable. The Harrison compressor is a GM thing. An outsourced part. so, the issue to the Jaguar engineers was a way to attach it to an engine designed way before auto AC was envisaged. I do admire those turnbuckle type tensioners. Far more elegant than the slot and bolt things found in domestics of the era.

Change all the belts, demote the old to boot spares. No better time to do it.

One of my old Jaguar V belts is now driving my old Atlas lathe. So much cn be repurposed!!

Carl

Carl

 

hi all - my alternator belt just broke last night...I am diving into the alternator belt replacement...wish me luck and thanks for the all the tips here...should help me immensely...

 

I got the power steering belt off ok...but the AC is unbelievable...I am having little luck...I have the AC belt very loose...but it looks like I have a long way to go...see the pic for where the one bolt is that I cannot loosen as I cannot get in there because the fuel cooler lines are in the way on my 87 XJ6...

 

Mission accomplished...alternator belt replaced

one thing I found that helped get the AC belt off was going around to the right side of the car and pulling the belt...the compressor was loose enough that the belt pulled it toward the motor which allowed me to get the belt off no problem

 

Is it necessary to remove the freon lines from the compressor to get enough play to remove/replace the belt?

 

Nope

Or it shouldn't be, at least.

Unless somebody, somehow, installed a seriously too-short belt


Cheers
DD

 

the compressor should pivot sideways on its bottom bolts, the belt adjustment is done by the banjo adjuster.

so you loosen the inwards nut of the banjo adjuster first, about 2 inches away from the banjo, then you push the compressor towards the engine, it it doesn't move or pivot, the bottom bolts were tightened too much. Loosen them, but not remove them.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm
on the road for work and I got to the location last night. I saw a belt dangling from the front of the car. Looked and saw no charging going on and alt light on. Great. I hadn't been paying attention to the gauges. Lucky I didn't run out of juice in the country, I was listening to my newly installed stereo and the headlights were on! Is it necessary to remove all the belts to replace the alternator belt?

 

yes, but think of it as an exercise. It is a whole day workout.

Usually when one belt fails, the others will follow the leader. Replace them all.

 

Installation is the reverse of removal... rev the engine really fast, and through the belt at it. Done.