Fan belt help, NJ

[mercman]

Hello:

I must admit up front that I'm a beginner when it comes to repairs and always a little apprehensive when taking a wrench to my car. Bear with me, I'm new to this...

My fan belt seems to be a bit loose, as it makes a clunking noise at idle -- the intermittent clunking is accompanied by the belt "shimmying" a bit on the upper and lower pulleys. Assume it's best to just replace this belt rather than tighten it.

I have the 101 Projects book at the ready, but I just want to make sure I'm turning things the way they should.

Understanding that I need to use the pulley wrench from the tool kit, should I turn the pulley nut counterclockwise (lefty loosey) while adding clockwise pressure on the pulley wrench? Any other pitfalls I should be aware of? Obviously I'm concerned of doing any damage, but this seems like a common repair that I should try to tackle.

If there are any local Pelicans in the Montclair, NJ area that would like to help me, please let me know!

Many thanks for your support.

Thanks,

Rob
rwmoran@comcast.net

[msk1986911]

Turn the nut counterclockwise. You may need to use a breaker bar to loosen the nut. Make sure you use all of the shims when you reposition them (I believe there are 6 in total).

Mike

[burgermeister]

When you tighten the nut for the new belt, it's nice to tighten a bit, then rotate the pulley a bit, then tighten some more, etc ... just like an old VW.

Otherwise, you're just squeezing the belt and bending the pulley (the PO of my car managed to actually break the pulley on my car - when I unbolted it, a chunk of pulley fell out).