🔧 Soul - Serpentine Belt Replacement

The serpentine belt drives accessories like the alternator and A/C. On your Soul, the belt is held tight by an automatic spring-loaded tensioner, so the job is mainly relieving tension, swapping the belt, and verifying the routing.

Difficulty Level: Intermediate | Estimated Time: 0.5-1.5 hours

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⚠️ Safety & Precautions

• ⚠️ Work on a cool engine; keep hands clear of pulleys.
• ⚠️ Key out of the vehicle so the engine can’t start.
• ⚠️ If lifting the vehicle, support it on jack stands (never the jack).
• ⚠️ Do not put fingers between belt and pulleys while releasing the tensioner.

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🔧 Required Tools

You'll need the following tools for this repair:

• Safety glasses
• Mechanic gloves
• Flashlight
• Wheel chocks
• Floor jack (rated 3-ton minimum)
• Jack stands (rated 3-ton minimum)
• 21mm lug wrench
• 10mm socket
• Ratchet (3/8" drive)
• Serpentine belt tool (specialty)
• 14mm socket
• 17mm socket
• Trim clip removal tool
• Flathead screwdriver

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🔩 Required Parts

HowToo sells all the parts you need for this repair:

• Serpentine belt - Qty: 1

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📋 Before You Begin

• Park on level ground, shift to Park, and set the parking brake.
• Open the hood and locate the belt routing diagram (often on a sticker near the radiator support). If there’s no sticker, take a clear photo of the belt path before removal.
• Optional for easier access: lift the front-right corner, remove the front-right wheel, and remove the splash shield clips/screws to access the belt from the side.

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🔨 Step-by-Step Instructions

Follow these steps in order:

Step 1: Get access to the belt

• Use flashlight to look at the belt routing and identify the tensioner (a spring-loaded arm with a pulley). Tensioner = the spring “belt tightener.”
• If you’re going through the wheel well: use 21mm lug wrench to loosen lug nuts, then use floor jack and jack stands to support the car.
• Use trim clip removal tool, flathead screwdriver, and 10mm socket to remove the splash shield fasteners as needed.

Step 2: Relieve belt tension

• Install the serpentine belt tool (specialty) (a long handled low-profile ratchet made for belt tensioners) with either a 14mm socket or 17mm socket on the tensioner’s bolt head (your Soul may use either size).
• Slowly rotate the tool to move the tensioner and loosen the belt. Hold it steady—spring pressure is strong.
• While holding the tensioner released, slide the belt off one smooth pulley (often the alternator or idler) using your gloved hand.

Step 3: Remove the old belt

• Carefully let the tensioner return to its resting position (don’t let it snap back) while holding the serpentine belt tool (specialty).
• Remove the belt from the remaining pulleys by hand and pull it out of the engine bay.
• Compare old vs new belt length and rib count (the grooves should match).

Step 4: Route the new belt

• Using the routing sticker/photo, place the new belt around the pulleys. Make sure the ribbed side sits in ribbed pulleys and the smooth side rides on smooth pulleys.
• Leave the easiest-to-reach pulley for last (usually a smooth idler pulley).
• If a rib is off by one groove, fix it now.

Step 5: Re-apply tension and seat the belt

• Use serpentine belt tool (specialty) with the correct 14mm socket or 17mm socket to rotate the tensioner again.
• Slide the belt fully onto the last pulley, then slowly release the tensioner.
• Visually inspect every pulley: the belt should be centered and fully seated in every groove.
• No torque steps are required if you did not remove any bolts—this job typically only releases the tensioner.

Step 6: Reinstall anything you removed

• Reinstall the splash shield using trim clip removal tool, flathead screwdriver, and 10mm socket.
• Reinstall the wheel using 21mm lug wrench, then lower the vehicle from the jack stands using the floor jack.

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✅ After Repair

• Before starting, do one last belt alignment check with the flashlight.
• Start the engine and watch the belt for 15–30 seconds: it should run smoothly with no hopping or squealing.
• Turn A/C on and headlights on; recheck for noise (a slight brief chirp can happen on first start, but constant squeal usually means mis-routing or a pulley issue).
• If you see fraying, wobble, or the belt walking off a pulley, shut off immediately and re-check routing and pulley alignment.

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💰 DIY vs Shop Cost

Shop Cost: $150-$280 (parts + labor)

DIY Cost: $25-$60 (parts only)

You Save: $125-$220 by doing it yourself!

Shop labor rates vary but typically run $100-$150/hour. This repair takes a shop approximately 0.7-1.2 hours.

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🎯 Ready to get started?

HowToo makes it easy: same-day/2-day shipping on every part, plus all the tools and specialty tools you need! Check out the parts and tools sections below to add everything to your cart.