Wasted $80 on a fancy serpentine belt tool that slipped right off

Last week I decided to splurge on one of those ratcheting belt tools from the auto parts store in Tucson. I thought it would make the job faster on my 2002 Civic, but it just kept slipping off the tensioner pulley after every quarter turn. I ended up using a plain old 15mm wrench and a pry bar like always, which took me maybe 5 minutes total. Has anyone else had bad luck with those ratcheting belt tools, or did I just get a dud?

2 comments

2 Comments

wade_young863d ago

Man I had the exact same problem with one of those Gates branded ratcheting tools. It felt solid in the box (you know, heavy and all that) but the second I put it on my 08 Corolla it just spun like crazy on the tensioner. The little teeth grabbed maybe once before slipping off and I nearly broke my knuckles on the radiator fan. I ended up using a breaker bar and a socket on the tensioner bolt itself instead of the pulley Accessory. Way easier and didn't cost me ninety bucks (lesson learned the hard way). Sometimes the old school methods (like a plain wrench and some leverage) just work better for these cars with tight engine bays.

lily5742d ago

Yeah I dunno, seems like maybe you just got a dud or didn't line it up right. Plenty of people swear by those tools, might be jumping the gun a bit blaming the whole design.