96 P.A. Belt Replacement HELP, Is There A Trick To It???

The belt on my 96 3.8L Park Avenue non supercharged is starting to look a little worn. I want to replace it before it becomes a problem. I looked at it and it looks as if you have to remove an engine mount to put on a new belt. My questing is I’m I seeing this correctly or is there a simpler solution. If I do have to remove the bracket do I have to jack the engine back inline to line up the bolt holes? Please help with this once easy task. Are there any illustrations or details that will help with the issue?

My 98 leSabre has a three point motor mount. The belt runs through the middle. The lower mount is a light brace; it doesn't seem to really support much.

The mount is a spacer tube a couple inches long. It's held in place by a stud. Remove the stud and the space tube comes out and the belt comes through that opening!!!

Jack up the right side of the car. Pull the plastic splash shield out of the way and prop it with something. You might want to take the wheel off and lower the jack some. There's nut around the stud. Then the end of the stud has a torx male end. Requires female torx socket. I don't recall the size. Check yours out since it's two years earlier, it may have a different setup.

The suggestion is to support the engine lightly when removing that stud. You're not supposed to use a piece of wood lightly under the oil pan, but some do. I saw someone raise the left side of the car slightly to support the motor. They left the wheel in place not jacket up.

i never support the engine

i jut turn the wheel all the way to the pass side and remove the nut and stud and spacer and thats it

i always grind some material from the end of the stud before replacing the stud so it will go back in easily


easy job

only takes about 15 minutes tops

good luck

:smile: Just be sure you get the belt lined up properly on all the pulleys and placed in the correct grooves before starting the car :smile: