Honda Odyssey 2006 Serpentine Belt Replacement

Honda Odyssey 2006 Serpentine Belt Replacement

Figure 1 Parts Location and Belt Routing

My 2006 Honda Odyssey serpentine belt was noisy in cold weather. I couldn't find anything on the web describing how to replace it. When I finally found the answer in a Chilton manual, it turns out my first guess had been correct but I had been concerned about breaking something due to the amount of force required. The technique I developed is described below. This applies to the 2005 through 2010 models.

Serpentine Belt Replacement

Lift right front of vehicle and remove wheel to access lower sprockets.
Lift power steering reservoir and use rope or bungy to pull out-of-the-way towards the left side of vehicle (See Figure 3).
Use breaker bar with 19mm socket to back-off tensioner by pushing counter-clockwise. Hydraulic tensioner will move slowly over several seconds (See Figure 1).
Remove belt from a sprocket and then from the other sprockets.
Additional steps for tensioner back-off which may be skipped if an assistant is available to back-off tensioner:
1. Attach pulley to engine lift point with rope (See Figure 2).
2. Attach a second rope to end of breaker bar and run through pulley (See Figure 2).
3. Breaker bar will now be held in position by standing in loop of rope hanging over the front of vehicle. I used a piece of carpet to protect the vehicle surface (See Figure 3).
Install new belt on all sprockets except the tensioner (See Figures1 and 4).
Back-off tensioner with breaker bar again and pull belt on to tensioner sprocket.

Figure 2 Tensioner Holding Detail

Figure 3 Holding Rope with Foot

Figure 4 Serpentine Belt Routing

There is an auto-tensioner indicator behind the tensioner release bolt. It consists of two metal ribs, which indicate whether the belt should be replaced due to wear. The Chilton manual describes and illustrates it but I could find it.