Has anyone replaced their drive belts?
Keen to know of any tricks.. the service manual shows a manual tensioner, is this correct?

Correct, two belts so two manual tensioners. Each tensioner has a locking bolt and another bolt to tighten or loosen. Loosen them up well. Do not damage these belts by levering them on with screwdrivers.

Some of the wheels have rims. Use your torch to check that the belts have not got up onto the rims anywhere. This can happen easily because of the grooves in the belts.

A way to check belt tension is said to be to see how far you can twist the belt with your fingers. 90 degrees or a lttle more, so that the edge of the belt is towards you, is good. Fairly sure the instruction is to run the engine for a while to get the shop kinks out of the belts then check again. Turn the steering and see if you are getting belt noise.

Dont go mad on belt tension or you will ruin the bearings. Not that easy to strip the locking nuts but dont go mad on them either.

Good advice about making sure the belts are seated on their grooved pulleys correctly.

Lots of incorrect/wrong info in that post though, don't know where to start . . . .

Correct torque wrench settings are in the manual.
Correct belt tension - manual.

Sounds like the OP has already checked the service manual. I think he is finding that it is kind of a slow read and I can relate to that. What I usually do in this case is have a look at the Magna manual. Mine is a Gregory so it will give a different description of the same job. But then I always check the forum as well.

I dont personally believe that a torque wrench is a must-have for this particular job. Definitely a good tool to own.

The method of checking belt tension described in the manual is something that I have always found difficult. I have asked around about this and most trade guys say that they just go by feel and experience -- not much help. Twist method is what I have been using.

The method of checking belt tension described in the manual is something that I have found difficult. I have asked around about this and most trade guys say that they just go by feel and experience -- not much help. Twist method is what I have been using.

Two methods:
Microphone and tap the belt, read the frequency of vibration on an oscilloscope. (Factory/dealer are supposedly doing it this way)

"Thumb" method: Manual says blah blah . . . .translates to a pressure of 10 Kg applied to the middle of each of the belts (longest run, ie bottom one) deflecting it by 1 cm. I can just apply this pressure with my thumb, tried it on bathroom scales. lol

I use the second method. If the belt is too loose, it can vibrate like mad on start up and make you think the heat shields or "Y" piece in the exhaust are rattling. Then you have to pull the wheel and shield off again and tighten the belts.
No really, they are really tight from factory. I was used to the old "V" belts where tension can be quite slack, but then I lifted the bonnet on a new Mitsu at the dealer and checked a belt on that. Guitar string tight. lol

Haven't tried the "twist 90 degrees" approach, guess if it works for you, why not.

PS. I have a torque wrench and use it as much as I can. lol

Thanks guys that helps...
Correct, the manual talks about microphones and reading the frequency of the belt, i bet the dealers don't do this....
First car I've had for a while without auto tensioners.

Thanks guys that helps...
Correct, the manual talks about microphones and reading the frequency of the belt, i bet the dealers don't do this....
First car I've had for a while without auto tensioners.

Would be nice to have the one serpentine belt with a spring loaded tensioner. Alas, it's not this way here.

The microphone method basically tunes the resonant frequency of the belts outside the working range of engine revs. If the belts are loose, you can watch them vibrate up and down somewhat chronic at certain low revs. Just use a torch, shine it on the belts, and the other hand on the throttle lever and bring the revs up slowly. When they start to flap about you get all sorts of noises coming from different parts of the engine. lol
I've got mine adjusted so I get a bit of belt noise when cold and at fast idle, but it settles and is not there when the engine warms up. Might have to tighten the alt/air con compressor belt a bit at some stage. Next oil change perhaps.