I need to change my fan belt.

Do I have to take the radiator out?

How do you loosen the blastic thats on the radiator and surrounding the fan? There are two plastic screws on the top but its still stuck..

With best regards and hope of help,
Kristjan Sveinsson

NO, you do not need to remove the radiator; or even the shrouds however if you don't have the right tools it will be difficult.  I found it to be a pain in the ass - I could barely get my hands in there, but I got both my belts changed without removing the rad or shroud or fan.  The most difficult part for me was holding tension on the belts while tightening the tensioner/alternator, the next day the belts started squealing bad.  There was just no way I could tighten the belts alone, I needed someone else to hold tension while I crawled underneath and tightened the hold downs.  Everything else I did alone.  Just a tip, I had much better access from underneath but I still don't have a skidplate yet.

James

Thanks for the info..But my english is a little limited..what do you mean with "shrouds" ?

"shroud" -  the black plastic that covers the back of the radiator and goes around the main fan.

okey..thanks alot..Im gonna try this next week. I only bought the alternator belt but not the P/S belt.. I think its not worth it doing only one.

No it certainly is NOT worth changing only one.  On mine the P/S-A/C belt was the one that needed replacing but I could see that it was going to be a tough job so I replaced both at the same time.  And I am so glad I did, I don't want to go back and do it again, until next time.

For the PS/AC belt if yours is the same as mine, you're going to need an Allen wrench (inside-out socket), also called an Allen key.  Little tiny ones usually come with IKEA furniture.     I don't remember the size but I'm pretty sure it's 10mm.  It goes into the tensioner and you need someone to hold tension with that tool while you go underneath with a box-end wrench and tighten the two hold-down bolts to lock the tensioner in place.  The problem is the Allen wrench might be too short to put enough tension on the belt, so you may have to slip another wrench or a deep socket and extension over the end so your helper can have more leverage.  It was difficult on mine because of the radiator hose and all the power steering and air conditioning hoses in the way on that side.

The raditor fan shroud has two more plastic screws on the bottom, like the ones on the top. They are hard to get to. Keep in mind if you change the alt. belt, you have to take the a/c belt off to get to it. It was a lot easer for me to take the fan shroud loose push it back over the fan and take the four 10m bolts out that hold the fan on. Take the fan off and than you can get to the belts. Good Luck

it is difficult but, remove the shroud, it makes the rest of the job a lot easier.  and replace both belts now.  a few days after you drive again, tighten belts again.

Wow yours looks different from mine.  OH!  I see, you have no A/C.  It looks like the p/s pump tightens differently too.  Mine has this wierd tensioner pulley that you have to hold down while you tighten two bolts.

You must've done a lot of work to get to that point.  I looked up the labour charge just for changing both belts at the shop I work at and the labour doesn't pay enough to justify going through the hassle of draining, removing the rad & fan, changing the belts, then reinstalling everything and filling and purging the cooling system.  I don't remember what is was, it was august when I changed them.

Yes, I saw it was a really tight fit and I knew a lot of people did that - pulling off the fan, etc. - so that is why I looked up the labour charge to be sure.  When I saw it was only a little more than the average 2-belt car (due to the tight fit) I knew that pulling all that stuff off was un-necessary and I'd be able to do it without dismantling everything and potentially causing more problems.  Because I know that usually everything I touch turns to sh*t.      And the less I touch / dismantle the better.  In the end it did take longer than the book rate to change the belts ('cause the job's a bitch, yo: yes there was much cursing and swearing);  but with much less of a mess.   

BTW while we are digging around in your engine bay JDMCRX, which one has the thermostat in it?  I'm guessing the bigger one on the left?  Do these engines have a cooling system air bleeder?  I'm guessing the proper replacement thermostat should have some sort of weep hole to allow air to escape in case of air lock.

James

I didnt see how I would do this with out removing the Radiator. You must be a magician or a smurf

Taking the radiator and fan out is farely easy. I didnt even take off the shroud. Its a little tricky taking the radiator out with the shroud on but possible. And after that its just piece of cake.

I recomend taking the radiator out for sure!

which one has the thermostat in it?

yes, it is the one on the left.  trust me, i know

if you ever to change the thermostat, you DO NOT need the gasket, there is no gasket, the gasket is for the one on the right, the thermostat has its own rubber o-ring.  fyi