I really am in dire need of changning my altrenator belt...I have the belt but I dont know how to change it on th civic....so does anyone have any websites that show how to change these belts or does anyone have diy instructions???

invest in a haynes manual, it will help you a lot, other than that knowledge, i dont know, i havent changed one before

If I'm not mistaken.....
There's like two bolts on the alternator bracket itself that holds the alternator on. If you simply loosen these bolts, the alternator will "slide" in and loosen the belt enough to remove. It's tight in there and I think you'll have to get at it from underneath but it's easy. Just remember to properly put tension on the new belt when tightening the alternator back into place. There is a certain amount of tension you need but I can't remember how much it is. I do know you measure it in "play"....how much you can push the belt in for a center point between the two pulleys.

an inch total up and down travel is the general rule

really the only thing you gotta worry about is how you handle the belts. like the obvious don't get any oil on it and what not.

just follow the belt around until you find a tensioner. you'll know it when you see it... start by loosening that, and you may need to take off any other belts in the way, i'm not sure if there are or not. as far as tensioning, i'm not saying that deesnutz is wrong but an inch in either way is kind of a lot. pretty much you don't want the belt to be able to twist 180 degrees across it's longest length. then again it could be self tensioning in which case you'd need to replace your tensioner along with the belt.

This post was last modified: 06-08-2008 11:24 PM by TheReinstein.

Jeremy has a thread like this with pics somewhere..

You will have to remove the power steering and A/C belt too.

It's 1/4 up or down for a total of 1/2 an inch of play. As per Haynes manual ch 1. Definitely invest in a Haynes or Helms manual. It will be the best $20 you will ever spend if you are going to be doing your own services and maintenance. You can also download them from some other sites. Especially now that all of our Ej8's are getting up there in miles and I am pretty sure most of us are still running with stuff that was on there when it rolled out of the factory.

amen haha..... sadly.

But that is the beauty that is Honda. They make durable shit. I had a 1996 200SX SE-r and it I was always replacing stuff on that beast. My Civic all I have done is replace the starter and alternator once a peice.