Should I replace my serp belt myself or let stealer do it for 109 labor?

I'm scheduled in next week to get the lower control arms replaced (finally) and I may
just hand the stealer a new serp belt and say "here replace this"
they quoted me 109 in labor.

I did one on my Volkswagen 12v VR6 back in the day, but I'm thinking it would be even more difficult on the cx-9.
Should I lose a Saturday doing this myself or pay the dealer 109 bucks for labor?

hmmmm
 
If you are going to let the dealer do it give him both belts the serpentine and the stretch belt. Get that out the way as well.
 
The belt seems like a pain in the behind to do - it might be worth it. Does the service manual say to do it through the wheel well?
 
Service manual does in fact call to remove the wheel & fender liner a.k.a. splash shield. The serp belt doesn't sound difficult actually, but the power steering belt sounds like a royal pain, using some kind of "SST" tool which I have no idea what that even is. I'm contemplating doing it myself. I just loath the dealer in so many ways. They tried to take me this morning while buying the belts. Lady tried to charge me list price. I told her I've never seen a retail operation charge a list price to a consumer. She said list price is the same thing as retail price (it is not). After asking for a refund, I will buy it at the next Mazda dealer in the town over, she then agreed to charge me a more retail oriented price, although the listed "list" price on this invoice is still marked up, and not the actual list price. I've bought tons of stuff at dealers before, and always have been charged retail price not list price. I'm sooooo over this dealer. Service does the same kind of scheme. They take the alldata labor unit and mark it up, charge admin fees, "shop supplies" etc etc. Rake the consumer over the coals, they will. I refuse to get ripped off.

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Changing the belts and tensioner are not hard - if I can do it anyone can!

Just my personal observations:

Safety first! One needs some good jack stands or a hoist - removing the front wheel (right) and working through the wheel well requires the vehicle to be appropriately stabilised. Without either of these - no go!

The serpentine belt is easy - even more so if you have a 3/8 breaker bar!

The stretch belt is easy once you have done it. I popped mine off in case I needed to reuse it in the event of stuff up. Used a little gates tool and a bit of electrical wire to pull it off the pulley as I rotated the crank by hand. Putting it on is just a simple case of 2 big zip ties to hold the belt on the pulley and rotate through on the crank and it pops on.

The biggest pain was changing the serpentine belt tensioner. 3 bolts with no room for a ratchet with a socket normal . (would be easy with a ratchet spanner). So a spanner and slowly slowly, bit by bit.......took a bit of skin off the knuckles. This bit took the longest......

There are some youtube videos on doing some of this stuff on other vehicles.

As for is it worth $US 109.......well that is up to you! Satisfaction for me - one could not pay enough.
 
Why did you replace the tensioner?

Firstly, after reading a post on the forum regarding serpentine belts - I went and checked mine. It was going on some 8 years old and 100-110K km. It was showing some signs of distress (cracking). The stretch belt looked fine.

The tensioner seemed fine, not excessively worn in any manner that I could observe with the mark 1 eyeball - no noise from either belt or tensioner as well.

So - if I was going to change the serpentine belt - might as well change the stretch and the tensioner and not have to come back to any of it for another 8 years! Off the top of my head the tensioner was something like $55-60......

I am a believer in maintenance prior to failure. I do not need to be parked at the side of a road in the middle of no-where because of a cheap belt or tensioner. I would rather replace it all and have some security of mind in knowing that it is done once, and done properly.

As for the transfer case - don't get me started!

At the end of the day - up to you and what you want to do.
 
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I am grateful to have fwd. I can only imagine the woes with having that ford edge transfer case. Thanks for the input. May do this myself..I'll have a buddy over to help.
 
Adding $.02 to this discussion, one option that rarely seems to come up is a third party mechanic. It always seems to be dealership vs DIY. A good one, which I'm fortunate to have, it's worth their weight in gold. I haven't let him loose on the cx9 yet as there's been no need, but he's worked on various cars of mine for years. Hand him the keys, come back at end of day to a reasonable bill and a functioning car. Or a phone call to tell me he doesn't think it's worth it any more.
 
Sealant, did you replace with oem tensioner or aftermarket.

Tensioner was as "OEM" part obtained from a Mazda parts / service department. It was a Mazda part in a Motorcraft bag. Original and new both stamped with FoMoCo and Made in Canada. There is a difference - the newer one had a plastic roller for the belt (old was a metal roller).
 
Adding $.02 to this discussion, one option that rarely seems to come up is a third party mechanic. It always seems to be dealership vs DIY. A good one, which I'm fortunate to have, it's worth their weight in gold. I haven't let him loose on the cx9 yet as there's been no need, but he's worked on various cars of mine for years. Hand him the keys, come back at end of day to a reasonable bill and a functioning car. Or a phone call to tell me he doesn't think it's worth it any more.

Exactly what I have done for the transfer case fluid. I have a great guy down the road who has become quite understanding of the issue through his "in-laws" CX9 transfer case crapping itself. He is up to speed on putting it on the hoist and sucking the crap out and pumping back in. I leave the pump and oil with him - for him to do it - 10 mins and no hassle. For me - not risking getting under the thing on jacks or ramps when I do not have - that is worth a couple of bucks (please do not use the cinder / concrete blocks - it is dangerous).

I was happy to do my belts as I had the time, wanted the learning experience, and the satisfaction of completing a task.

Hopefully I will never, ever have to go near a Mazda showroom or service centre for the rest of my life.
 
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Well I did it. Broke some fender liner retainers, no big deal. But a friend and I were ready to throw in the towel over the stretch belt. Bought a tool off Amazon which was totally useless. Youtube made the tool out to be so easy but the belt just slipped across the tool and wouldnt suck the tool up over the pulley. Hours later another youtube video provided an ah-ha moment. Ziptied the belt down onto the power steering pulley, used like 5 zipties toed tight through one of the holes in the ps pulley and turned the crankshaft and it finally worked. Zipties saved the day! Serp belt was easy. Friend loosened the tensioner and made that real easy. Sorta broke the fender wheel opening moulding though. Doesn't hold as well to the fender now.
 
Well I did it. Broke some fender liner retainers, no big deal. But a friend and I were ready to throw in the towel over the stretch belt. Bought a tool off Amazon which was totally useless. Youtube made the tool out to be so easy but the belt just slipped across the tool and wouldnt suck the tool up over the pulley. Hours later another youtube video provided an ah-ha moment. Ziptied the belt down onto the power steering pulley, used like 5 zipties toed tight through one of the holes in the ps pulley and turned the crankshaft and it finally worked. Zipties saved the day! Serp belt was easy. Friend loosened the tensioner and made that real easy. Sorta broke the fender wheel opening moulding though. Doesn't hold as well to the fender now.

There is a guy with a Ford Edge on youtube that has done some of this stuff as well - good viewing.

In any case - http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123834551-Drive-Belts/page2

The zip ties need to be pretty decent and I needed to hold it on the bully a little until it gained traction.
 
So I replaced my a/c/alternator belt and tensioner yesterday. A few notes:
- instead of a 3/8 breaker bar I used a 12" adjustable wrench. It fits on quite snugly and an added bonus is that it has a round hole at the end that I attached with a wire to the support panel, then it becomes a one-man job.
- I used an 8mm ratcheting wrench, but it's really not needed. Once you break the bolts loose, you can use your fingers to remove them.
- The rear-most bolt is best accessed from the bottom (always use stands, never a jack), while the other two - from the top. If you tape the hoses out of the way, there's just enough room to get your hand in at just the right angle.
- for 140k the old belt looked remarkably good - only cracks but no bare spots. The idler was quiet and smooth too.
- I kept the power steering belt on, as I was short on time and the belt looked in good shape, and I figured (perhaps incorrectly :) ) that loosing it will still allow me to get home.

All in all, I did not have as much trouble with the tensioner as some other posters, maybe 15 minutes tops.

Good luck!
 
Helbigtw, how long did it take you to do this job? would really appreciate the info. Thanks in advance.
 
Serp belt was pretty easy with a friend.
He used a 1/4 inch socket wrench and loosened the belt and I pulled the belt off.
After taking the fender liner off, with the wheel off.
You can probly do it in 45 minutes.
It was the stretch belt that was a nightmare.
I bought a stretch belt tool on Amazon.
Didn't work. After a lot of beer, collaboration and kicking the car, I had an idea to use a ziptie.
Ziptied several zipties to the power steering pulley and that was the only way I could get the new stretch belt on.
But if you are only doing the serp belt, its pretty easy.
 
Thanks for the reply. I purchased both belts that way I don't have to do it later. We both have about the same mileage on our 9's. Once you used the zip ties was it quick to put the stretch belt on. I was looking at the service manual and it seems that the serpentine belt has to come off first in order to get to the power steering stretch belt, is this correct. Also did you turn the power steering pulley to get the belt on. I am also curious can you see the tensioner with the engine cover off or did you have to move stuff around in the engine bay to get a good view and access.
 
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