I was going to replace the serpentine belt on my sister in-laws 1996 ( I believe) Park Avenue. I thought no big deal, relieve the tensioner and off it comes. Well that was a piece of cake until I tried to pull the belt out. Apparently the belt goes around the lower motor mount of the 3800 motorand I could not figure out what I had to remove or the procedure for getting the belt out. After 2 hours of poking around, I reinstalled the old belt and decided to do some research. has anyone out there done this job and can tell me what I need to do. Help!! Thanks, John

 

I think you are probably working on a '97 or later. When I did my '97 Ultra (supercharged), I was surprised to find that it is necessary to disconnect the motor mount. This means, of course, that you must support the engine another way. The shop manual suggests a jack andwood under the oil pan. (SoTHAT'S why the oil panwas dented!!)


The Ultra has two serpentine belts, so this may not be necessary on the regular Park Avenue (which has one). If it is, you might want to tell her to have it done. Just make sure they know how to do it without damaging anything.

 

96 also has the mount. Darn GM.

 

94' dont.. you have to flatten the belt to ease it by the mount.. It
dont just pull out.. 2 belts yes.. the long one is 45$... usually.



Good luck.