[HOW TO] Replace Serpentine Belt, AC Belt, Serpentine Idler Pulley - 2021+ 5.3L/6.2L V8's - Yukon, Tahoe, Suburban, Escalade

[fondupot]

Replaced the belts and idler pulley on my 2021 Yukon 5.3L recently. The Serpentine belt was showing signs of fraying at ~63,000 miles. Replaced the AC belt and Idler pulley while I was in there. Belts are a stretch fit type and are not reusable and need to be cut off to be removed.

Hope the video helps someone!

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Thank you for your post. It will be beneficial to folks here.

 

[OR VietVet]

What am I missing? Cannot the a/c belt be coaxed in to position, one guide over while turning the crank or would it damage the belt doing that?

 

[fondupot]

What am I missing? Cannot the a/c belt be coaxed in to position, one guide over while turning the crank or would it damage the belt doing that?

The AC Belt is on a clutch. And when the vehicle is off, the clutch was locked up, so the belt just spins on the AC pulley as you spin the main pulley.

Trust me I tried for a LONG time (off camera) to get the AC belt to sit right on the AC pulley and I could NOT for the life of me do it. Because once the belt is stretched into place...it stays where it is.

I guess I could have tried to start the vehicle and let the AC pulley spin and "hope" the belt righted itself, but i didn't want to chance it. Plus, with the AC belt being situated behind the Serpentine belt, if it didn't work and I had to cut the AC belt off, I'd also have to cut the serpentine belt off to to fix the AC belt again.

So I just opted to cut off the new AC belt that I didn't seat correctly and ran to O'Reilly for the the other new one on and made sure to seat it correctly on the AC pulley when I stretched it over the main pulley.

 

[OR VietVet]

I am sure that the stretch fit belt serves SOME purpose, likely cleaning up the front of the engine. BUT, for this to happen and not have a way to easily correct it, is just engineering beyond fathomable idiocy.

 

[Doubeleive]

What am I missing? Cannot the a/c belt be coaxed in to position, one guide over while turning the crank or would it damage the belt doing that?

if not that tool then the lisle tool can be used to both remove or install a belt they do not have to be cut off, say you needed to replace a bolt on part you can re-use your serpentine, etc. no need to cut it off and go spend another $100+ on belts.
also the zip tie connectors can be opened and or take the tree out those are specialty plastic connectors often not sold separate by gm because they come on a new wiring harness only, just depends on the particular connector, at any rate cutting them is not necessary.

and ya if you do not get the belt seated correctly when stretching it on you have to start over or force it over, cutting it however was not necessary, generally the tool is flipped around the other way to remove the belt, the gm one might not do it the lisle one does for sure and it is magnetic so when you put it on there it doesn't just fall off while you are working trying to get the belt aligned right.

the oem gm ac belt is like $50+, I sure as hell am not cutting it off because I didn't get it on there right the 1st try.
beware of fake one's amazon is rife with them, always check who the seller is, gm store is fine, world parts direct is a gm dealer also. others no telling....