If you’re old enough to remember the good old days when you changed your own fan belts, then you can also remember the bruised knuckles and cursing that went along with it. And to make matters worse, there were often two or three belts to change.

Now, instead of separate belts for each component, most cars today use a single wider, multigrooved “serpentine” fan belt, named for the way it snakes around multiple pulleys.

Serpentine fan belt replacement is easy because today’s automatic drive fan belt tensioners eliminate the need to loosen bolts or pry components into position for retensioning. Just rotate the tensioner, remove the old belt and install a new one. When the fan belt ribs are seated into the pulley grooves, release the tensioner and you’re done.

This article comes from familyhandyman edit released