9000 Serpentine Belt
Introduction
Introduction
This section is common to many repair procedures on the 9000.
The first thing that every 9000 DIYer needs is the tensioner tool.
This tool costs $5-$10 depending on your hardware store and it takes about 10 minutes to make.
With this tool in hand it will make your life much easier.
It is better to space the bolts further apart then too close. I made mine about 117mm and it worked great.
The pre-1991 Saab 9000's have two belts on the engine. Since my 9000 is a 1993 model, I don't have
the pictures and descriptions needed for the older Saab. If you have the descriptions and pictures
available for the older Saabs, please email me them and I will gladly update the webpages.
9000 Serpentine Belt
Removal
Removal
Removing the serpentine belt is a standard procedure when working on the 9000.
Almost every repair starts with removing the fender liner and then the serpentine belt.
Now that the tool is made, we can now get into removing the fender liner to get to the belt.
This is extremely easy. You just need an 8mm and a 10mm socket.
You'll notice that the fender liner is broken into two halves.
To get to the serpentine belt, you only need to remove the right side.
First remove the 8mm nuts on the edge on the inside edge of the fender and then remove the 4-10mm nuts.
Pull the outer plastic fender strip to clear the holes and the inner fender should pretty much fall out.
Before removing the belt, be sure to draw a map or take a digital picture of the routing of the belt.
This will ease your pain when trying to reinstall the belt!
To remove the belt you need to release the tension on the belt.
9k's with a B202 engine don't have a balance shaft and do not need the special tool to remove/replace the serp belt on those cars.
The belt tensioning is done with a bolt-adjusted pulley very similar to the way the alternator tensioning setup on a 16V classic 900 works.
Only the B204 and B234 engines require using the belt tensioner tool.
To release the tension on the pulley, you take a 1/2" 19mm socket and basically loosen(counter-clockwise) the bolt on the pulley and the tension will release.
The bolt is reverse threaded so to remove the pulley bolt you will need to actually tighten the bolt!
While pulling on the ratchet, you need to insert you special tool into the two grooves.
This can be harder than it looks, as the tensioner takes a lot of pressure to move!
Once the tool is in place, the belt can be slipped off from the water pump.
If you want to replace the belt, you must remove the tensioner pulley.
An impact gun would work wonders here, but if you don't have one then it's easiest to remove the tool so you won't bend the tool while applying pressure to the bolt.
Remember that the bolt is reverse threaded, so you actually want to loosen it by going clockwise!
The only trick with reinstall is figuring out which way the belt goes. Once this is done, the belt will slide right on.