How to change a Vortech S/C belt.
09-15-2004, 01:48 PM
#1
How to change a Vortech S/C belt.
Since I've been asked in a PM to provide instructions on this, I thought I'd just do up a new "How To" thread so all can see and add any comments.
Here is the thread I did on installing the Vortech kit in case there's stuff in there that may be of help:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...ic=103349&st=0
Here is the thread I did on how to tighten up the belt:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=115118
You can begin by doing the first part of this process involving loosening up the jam locknut and backing off the tensioner assembly.
You need to disconnect the air filter hose from the front of the blower:
Then disconnect the chargecooler from the blower:
If you want more room to work, disconnect at the blower and also at the throttle body and gently push the intercooler to the side but keep all the coolant lines attached.
Have a look at "Fig. 7-b, page 11 and Fig. 7-o, page 18" of this document:
http://www.vortechsuperchargers.com/...s/4hs218im.pdf
This plate spacer is the ultimate reason why the S/C has to be partially removed. The belt runs AROUND this spacer, so you have to slip one side of the belt through to the other side of the spacer. This is your ultimate goal - to create just enough of a gap to slip the belt past this spacer. This spacer is the lowest mounting point for the S/C assembly.
Take particular note of the belt routing "Fig. 7-n, page 17" of the Vortech document linked above.
The supercharger is held on to the engine at 4 distinct locations. Start by removing the two lock nuts from the ends of the studs that go through this plate spacer. You'll need a 10mm wrench. Racheting wrenches will make this whole process go a lot faster but are not absolutely necessary. Leave the spacer and studs on the engine. They don't have to come off.
Now, go to the top of the blower assembly and loosen the two bolts that hold the S/C bracket to the VTEC solenoid sandwich - "Fig. 7-l, page 15". You only need to undo them to the point just before they come out. Leave them screwed in a few turns. This takes a 14 mm wrench.
Next, you need to loosen the two bolts that hold the S/C assembly to that "L" shaped "lateral mounting plate" that is attached to the engine head - "Fig. 7-r, page 19 and Fig. 7-u, page 21 and Fig. 7-x, page 22". This takes a 1/2" or 13mm wrench.
Next, you need to loosen (possibly remove) the single bolt that goes through the center of the stock idler pulley - "Fig. 7-r, page 19 and Fig. 7-u, page 21". Vortech supplied a cylindrical spacer that goes between the S/C mounting bracket and the stock pulley. It is the longer bolt that goes through the center of this spacer to the stock idler that must be loosened. This is a 17 mm bolt.
You should now be able to pull the whole S/C assembly away from the front of the engine enough to create that little gap in the lower spacer plate to just slip one side of the belt through. Once it's through, make sure you can thread the belt onto all the pulleys following the correct route BEFORE you button it all back together. You might have it backwards and need that gap again.
Once you have the belt on the right way, THEN tighten everything back up.
Go back to my belt tightening thread and finish off the job.
Here is the thread I did on installing the Vortech kit in case there's stuff in there that may be of help:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...ic=103349&st=0
Here is the thread I did on how to tighten up the belt:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=115118
You can begin by doing the first part of this process involving loosening up the jam locknut and backing off the tensioner assembly.
You need to disconnect the air filter hose from the front of the blower:
Then disconnect the chargecooler from the blower:
If you want more room to work, disconnect at the blower and also at the throttle body and gently push the intercooler to the side but keep all the coolant lines attached.
Have a look at "Fig. 7-b, page 11 and Fig. 7-o, page 18" of this document:
http://www.vortechsuperchargers.com/...s/4hs218im.pdf
This plate spacer is the ultimate reason why the S/C has to be partially removed. The belt runs AROUND this spacer, so you have to slip one side of the belt through to the other side of the spacer. This is your ultimate goal - to create just enough of a gap to slip the belt past this spacer. This spacer is the lowest mounting point for the S/C assembly.
Take particular note of the belt routing "Fig. 7-n, page 17" of the Vortech document linked above.
The supercharger is held on to the engine at 4 distinct locations. Start by removing the two lock nuts from the ends of the studs that go through this plate spacer. You'll need a 10mm wrench. Racheting wrenches will make this whole process go a lot faster but are not absolutely necessary. Leave the spacer and studs on the engine. They don't have to come off.
Now, go to the top of the blower assembly and loosen the two bolts that hold the S/C bracket to the VTEC solenoid sandwich - "Fig. 7-l, page 15". You only need to undo them to the point just before they come out. Leave them screwed in a few turns. This takes a 14 mm wrench.
Next, you need to loosen the two bolts that hold the S/C assembly to that "L" shaped "lateral mounting plate" that is attached to the engine head - "Fig. 7-r, page 19 and Fig. 7-u, page 21 and Fig. 7-x, page 22". This takes a 1/2" or 13mm wrench.
Next, you need to loosen (possibly remove) the single bolt that goes through the center of the stock idler pulley - "Fig. 7-r, page 19 and Fig. 7-u, page 21". Vortech supplied a cylindrical spacer that goes between the S/C mounting bracket and the stock pulley. It is the longer bolt that goes through the center of this spacer to the stock idler that must be loosened. This is a 17 mm bolt.
You should now be able to pull the whole S/C assembly away from the front of the engine enough to create that little gap in the lower spacer plate to just slip one side of the belt through. Once it's through, make sure you can thread the belt onto all the pulleys following the correct route BEFORE you button it all back together. You might have it backwards and need that gap again.
Once you have the belt on the right way, THEN tighten everything back up.
Go back to my belt tightening thread and finish off the job.
09-15-2004, 10:12 PM
#2
Registered User
I am the member Dave speaks of. My belt fell off and now it needs replacement. Thank you so much for being so detailed. I really wanted to do this myself to learn and to save money and you have given me perfect instructions. Thank you for all of your help, I will be doing this very soon. -Anthony
09-25-2004, 02:55 PM
#5
Registered User
I'd like to thank XVIPER for all of his help. His directions were perfect. All of the bolts came off easy and when you pull the SC off of the bracket, you create just enough room between the plate spacer and the 2 bolts to fit the belt through. Putting it around all of the pulleys was pretty easy as well. One thing I did by mistake was that I loosened the bolt too much on the stock idler pulley and it came off. It took me a while to figure our how to get the stock belt back on but all you do is get a wrench and when you move the bolt on this other pulley, the entire pulley swings down allowing you to put the stock belt back on. Very easy I know.
One problem we ran into was that when you tighten the belt using the tightening bolt, the jam lock nut and pulley get harder to reach. Also, if you notice in xviper's pic, there is a hose right there with one of those metal clamps. On my car, the little metal clamp was in the way. I moved it with some needle nose plyers and also bought a 19mm closed end socket wrench with an angled head because the jam lock nut is sort of inside the pulley and this makes it a lot easier.
The car runs great and sounds and feels so much better now. I drove around without the belt for far too long. Thank you Dave for making this DIY and for answering my questions yesterday when I needed help. I just started doing work on cars and this taught me a lot about how the Vortech kit is put together.
-Anthony
One problem we ran into was that when you tighten the belt using the tightening bolt, the jam lock nut and pulley get harder to reach. Also, if you notice in xviper's pic, there is a hose right there with one of those metal clamps. On my car, the little metal clamp was in the way. I moved it with some needle nose plyers and also bought a 19mm closed end socket wrench with an angled head because the jam lock nut is sort of inside the pulley and this makes it a lot easier.
The car runs great and sounds and feels so much better now. I drove around without the belt for far too long. Thank you Dave for making this DIY and for answering my questions yesterday when I needed help. I just started doing work on cars and this taught me a lot about how the Vortech kit is put together.
-Anthony
10-17-2016, 12:01 PM
#6
Since I've been asked in a PM to provide instructions on this, I thought I'd just do up a new "How To" thread so all can see and add any comments.
Here is the thread I did on installing the Vortech kit in case there's stuff in there that may be of help:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...ic=103349&st=0
Here is the thread I did on how to tighten up the belt:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=115118
You can begin by doing the first part of this process involving loosening up the jam locknut and backing off the tensioner assembly.
You need to disconnect the air filter hose from the front of the blower:
Then disconnect the chargecooler from the blower:
If you want more room to work, disconnect at the blower and also at the throttle body and gently push the intercooler to the side but keep all the coolant lines attached.
Have a look at "Fig. 7-b, page 11 and Fig. 7-o, page 18" of this document:
http://www.vortechsuperchargers.com/...s/4hs218im.pdf
This plate spacer is the ultimate reason why the S/C has to be partially removed. The belt runs AROUND this spacer, so you have to slip one side of the belt through to the other side of the spacer. This is your ultimate goal - to create just enough of a gap to slip the belt past this spacer. This spacer is the lowest mounting point for the S/C assembly.
Take particular note of the belt routing "Fig. 7-n, page 17" of the Vortech document linked above.
The supercharger is held on to the engine at 4 distinct locations. Start by removing the two lock nuts from the ends of the studs that go through this plate spacer. You'll need a 10mm wrench. Racheting wrenches will make this whole process go a lot faster but are not absolutely necessary. Leave the spacer and studs on the engine. They don't have to come off.
Now, go to the top of the blower assembly and loosen the two bolts that hold the S/C bracket to the VTEC solenoid sandwich - "Fig. 7-l, page 15". You only need to undo them to the point just before they come out. Leave them screwed in a few turns. This takes a 14 mm wrench.
Next, you need to loosen the two bolts that hold the S/C assembly to that "L" shaped "lateral mounting plate" that is attached to the engine head - "Fig. 7-r, page 19 and Fig. 7-u, page 21 and Fig. 7-x, page 22". This takes a 1/2" or 13mm wrench.
Next, you need to loosen (possibly remove) the single bolt that goes through the center of the stock idler pulley - "Fig. 7-r, page 19 and Fig. 7-u, page 21". Vortech supplied a cylindrical spacer that goes between the S/C mounting bracket and the stock pulley. It is the longer bolt that goes through the center of this spacer to the stock idler that must be loosened. This is a 17 mm bolt.
You should now be able to pull the whole S/C assembly away from the front of the engine enough to create that little gap in the lower spacer plate to just slip one side of the belt through. Once it's through, make sure you can thread the belt onto all the pulleys following the correct route BEFORE you button it all back together. You might have it backwards and need that gap again.
Once you have the belt on the right way, THEN tighten everything back up.
Go back to my belt tightening thread and finish off the job.
Here is the thread I did on installing the Vortech kit in case there's stuff in there that may be of help:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...ic=103349&st=0
Here is the thread I did on how to tighten up the belt:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=115118
You can begin by doing the first part of this process involving loosening up the jam locknut and backing off the tensioner assembly.
You need to disconnect the air filter hose from the front of the blower:
Then disconnect the chargecooler from the blower:
If you want more room to work, disconnect at the blower and also at the throttle body and gently push the intercooler to the side but keep all the coolant lines attached.
Have a look at "Fig. 7-b, page 11 and Fig. 7-o, page 18" of this document:
http://www.vortechsuperchargers.com/...s/4hs218im.pdf
This plate spacer is the ultimate reason why the S/C has to be partially removed. The belt runs AROUND this spacer, so you have to slip one side of the belt through to the other side of the spacer. This is your ultimate goal - to create just enough of a gap to slip the belt past this spacer. This spacer is the lowest mounting point for the S/C assembly.
Take particular note of the belt routing "Fig. 7-n, page 17" of the Vortech document linked above.
The supercharger is held on to the engine at 4 distinct locations. Start by removing the two lock nuts from the ends of the studs that go through this plate spacer. You'll need a 10mm wrench. Racheting wrenches will make this whole process go a lot faster but are not absolutely necessary. Leave the spacer and studs on the engine. They don't have to come off.
Now, go to the top of the blower assembly and loosen the two bolts that hold the S/C bracket to the VTEC solenoid sandwich - "Fig. 7-l, page 15". You only need to undo them to the point just before they come out. Leave them screwed in a few turns. This takes a 14 mm wrench.
Next, you need to loosen the two bolts that hold the S/C assembly to that "L" shaped "lateral mounting plate" that is attached to the engine head - "Fig. 7-r, page 19 and Fig. 7-u, page 21 and Fig. 7-x, page 22". This takes a 1/2" or 13mm wrench.
Next, you need to loosen (possibly remove) the single bolt that goes through the center of the stock idler pulley - "Fig. 7-r, page 19 and Fig. 7-u, page 21". Vortech supplied a cylindrical spacer that goes between the S/C mounting bracket and the stock pulley. It is the longer bolt that goes through the center of this spacer to the stock idler that must be loosened. This is a 17 mm bolt.
You should now be able to pull the whole S/C assembly away from the front of the engine enough to create that little gap in the lower spacer plate to just slip one side of the belt through. Once it's through, make sure you can thread the belt onto all the pulleys following the correct route BEFORE you button it all back together. You might have it backwards and need that gap again.
Once you have the belt on the right way, THEN tighten everything back up.
Go back to my belt tightening thread and finish off the job.
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