Rep Power: 0

How do you change the ribbed drive belt on a 2010 civic 1.8 L engine with AC. It is supposed to have a hydraulic belt tensioner. Neither the guy at the local Autozone nor I can figure which pulley or nut is the correct one to place a wrench on to loosen. The nut we are using is 19 mm but it will not move and we don't want to over do it . Could someone post a video on loosening and removing and installing this belt. I bought a manual at the auto parts store but it is of very little use, basically says "loosen the belt". Thanks

 
Rep Power: 517

The 19mm hex is correct.
Use a long box end wrench.
Apply hard, slow, steady hand pressure toward the firewall.
The hydraulic tensioner is one strong SOB and it takes a long time to compress it.
Applying excessive force can cause breakage!



Those factory belts are made of EPDM rubber and will last a damn long time, turning brown is not a good reason to replace it (they all seem to turn brown), but cracking is a good reason IMO.
Most last well beyond 100k miles here.


Aftermarket belts tend to not last near as long as OEM.

HTH

 
Rep Power: 307

I have read you want to move tensioner slowly when replacing. (mechanic) did mine at 100k.