Category Archives: repair

2012 Honda Odyssey serpentine belt and tensioner replacement

This post is really about the resources I found the most useful, my mistakes I want to avoid next time.

So the story is…

My van made squeaky sound when the engine was cold and the steering wheel was hard to turn for “some time”. I have ignored these issues for a while since I didn’t want to spend unless it’s really bad. The sound started getting louder so I took it to the mechanic shop, they gave me a quote for $650 CAD to replace the belt, the tensioner and the hood release cable, which is another issue that I ignored.

I do have $650 but I felt it’s a bit too much. I found the belt and the tensioner from rockauto for $115 CAD, checked youtube videos and had the confidence that I was capable of replacing them myself.

This is the video that I found most helpful.

In this video, this guy has the best diagram for the belt.

Now, here is a list of my mistakes.

  1. Have all the necessary tools.
  2. Make sure you protect AC pipe. I don’t think I broke it but I hit it with my ratchet wrench head a couple of time.
  3. Check you have enough room between the Idler pulley’s bolt and the AC pipe while using a ratchet wrench. It’ll be extremely difficult to take it out and change the turning direction when it’s stuck. It will take longer to take the wrench out than using a spanner.
  4. Have all spare bolts and plastic clips if you are able to get them beforehand. I did damage some of those clips while taking the fender liner, although I was lucky that I did not break any bolts and the rest of clips were enough to hold the liner.
  5. Find the best fitting socket for the tensioner pulley’s bolt before installing. Honda’s geniune part required 14mm socket but the OEM part got 15mm bolt. I thought I didn’t have a 15mm socket so tried loosining it with 5/8 inch socket, almost damaged the bolt head. Thankfully I found a 15mm socket in the tool box and was able to loosen it and install the belt.

This could’ve been a 2 hour job but it took me 4 hours because of all those mistakes. I should be able to do this next time in much shorter time! Anyways, I’m happy that the van doesn’t make squeaky sound any more and the power steering works perfectly.