My daughter has a 2011 Fiat 500 pop and the alternator belt broke and I found out that the alternator was seized solid. I replaced the alternator and went to install the new belt but can't figure out how to get it on. The car does not have AC, therefore does not have a belt tensioner on that model and year if it doesn't have AC. I tried placing the belt over the alternator and part way over the drive pulley and then rotate the drive pulley with a socket but the belt is just too tight. How do I get enough slack to slip the new belt on? It appears that loosening the alternator would not create slack either. Any ideas??

Some Manufacturers in their wisdom ( less cost) have done away with the tensioner on the aux belt system. The video below shows a redneck method of dealing with the Ford Stretch belt on a fiesta, there is of course a special tool to achieve this but how often would it get used by DIY owner?

[ame]https://youtu.be/KANMQFhv3v0[/ame]

The alternator *must* be attached with a bolt arrangement that allows it to pivot... the factory assembly line guys really will not be man-handling the alternator or using brute force to put the belt on.

There's maybe 2 or 3 bolts. Loosen all of them and see whether the alternator can move. The 1.1 which I'm more familiar with has a curved slot on the bottom bolt so that when both (2 bolts) are loose, the alternator rotates anti-clockwise to slacken the tension.. and clockwise to tighten the tension.

The worst case scenario is that you need to remove the bolts, tip the alternator into the wheel arch a little, hook the belt over the pulley and then replace the alternator. You won't have to worry about physically removing the alternator from the engine bay (there's not much clearance) .. just have it disconnected from th engine so that it can move closer to the crank pulley to hook the belt on.


Ralf S.

*Must* be .......allowing it to pivot.

Well perhaps not as I said most modern aux belt system have done away with the ( expensive/troublesome) tensioner and gone down the route of making it a stretch to fit belt system, so why can't the manufacture use a special tool ( below video) to install the belt without so called brute force, the 'redneck' method I showed above was a get you out of trouble if you ain't got the said tool!
Note: it is reccomended to fit a new belt if one has to be removed for any reason.

[ame]https://youtu.be/qs8J7DIzDrw[/ame]

I'm going to have to look at ours although it's a older car 2009, had the belt changed with the cam belt
Note the US cars maybe different, op.

John202020 said:

I'm going to have to look at ours although it's a older car 2009, had the belt changed with the cam belt
Note the US cars maybe different, op.

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Quite possible they use the 1.4 multiair engine over there

angus01221 said:

My daughter has a 2011 Fiat 500 pop and the alternator belt broke and I found out that the alternator was seized solid. I replaced the alternator and went to install the new belt but can't figure out how to get it on. The car does not have AC, therefore does not have a belt tensioner on that model and year if it doesn't have AC. I tried placing the belt over the alternator and part way over the drive pulley and then rotate the drive pulley with a socket but the belt is just too tight. How do I get enough slack to slip the new belt on? It appears that loosening the alternator would not create slack either. Any ideas??

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1.0 Twinair, 1.2 69, 0.9 Twinair, 1.4 Multiair/100HP 1.3 Multijet, 1.0 3cyl Hybrid? Which engine?

Rocco Reviews said:

1.0 Twinair, 1.2 69, 0.9 Twinair, 1.4 Multiair/100HP 1.3 Multijet, 1.0 3cyl Hybrid? Which engine?

Click to expand...

By the date you can rule out half of those

In the uk
@90% are 1242's (people tend to specify if its 'different'...and they cost more )

Edit : OP is in North America

Just an update.... it is a stretch belt arrangement without any adjustment or tensioner.

I tried getting the belt on as far as I could and then turning over the engine and it split the belt down the middle. I made a small tool that bolted onto one of the flywheel bolts and guides the belt over the pulley when you bump the engine with the key. This worked great and was quite easy to make up.

Here's the video that should be in my above (#2) post.....
https://youtu.be/KANMQFhv3v0