How to Change the Serpentine Belt on a Honda Accord

Is your Honda Accord squealing? It’s most likely the serpentine belt. If your serpentine belt is old, stretched, cracked and squealing, it is due for a replacement!

Follow this picture guide to quickly and easily change the serpentine belt (also called ‘drive belt’) in your Accord!

What does a serpentine belt do?

The serpentine belt in your Honda Accord drives the alternator, air conditioning, power steering, and water pump.

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How often should I replace the serpentine belt?

It is recommended to replace the serpentine belt in your Honda every 60,000 – 100,000 miles or as necessary if it appears damaged.

This guide covers changing the serpentine belt (drive belt) on a 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 Honda Accord with the 2.4L engine (4 cyl.).

How long does it take to replace the serpentine belt on a Honda Accord?

With the right tools and replacement belt, this should take you less than 30 minutes.

What you’ll Need:

• Serpentine Belt Installation Tool (or 14mm wrench with cheater bar)
• Serpentine Belt (2003-2007 Honda Accord 4-Cyl)
• Serpentine Belt (2008-2011 Honda Accord 4-Cyl)
• Serpentine Belt (2003-2011 Honda Accord 6-cyl)

Below is a picture of the tools/supplies I used.

Drive Belt Replacement Step-by-Step Procedure

The vehicle shown here is a 2004 Honda Accord. The first step is to locate the serpentine belt. It is just to the left of the engine as you peer under the hood.

Next, locate the tensioner pulley. It is the smaller wheel near the center of this next image.

2004 Honda Accord Belt Diagram

Now we’ll take a look at the routing diagram for this serpentine belt. The tensioner pulley is the one on the left with an arrow pointing toward it. We will release the tension on this pulley, then slide the old belt off.

• Serpentine Belt (2003-2007 Honda Accord 4-Cyl)
• Serpentine Belt (2008-2011 Honda Accord 4-Cyl)
• Serpentine Belt (2003-2011 Honda Accord 6-cyl)

To release the tension on the tensioner pulley, use a Serpentine Belt Installation Tool and put the 14mm wrench onto the nut-head on the tensioner pulley (A), and pull the wrench toward the front of the car as shown.

On the Honda Accord, this is a 14mm hex head on the tensioner pulley.

Originally, I tried a socket wrench, but it protruded too far from the tensioner nut head and didn’t have enough space to seat properly. I ended up using the box-end wrench shown below.

Since I didn’t have a Serpentine Belt Installation Tool, I used a large metal pipe as a cheater bar to hold off the tension while fitting the new belt in place.

Here is a close up of the pipe on the wrench. Since it is at a slight angle, take care not to slip off the nut and strip it. (Notice how bad the old belt is! All cracked…)

Pull the wrench toward the front of the car to release the tension on the belt, then carefully slide the old belt off of the power steering pump.

Now you can take the wrench off the tensioner pulley and pull off the old belt.

Here is a quick comparison photo of the old and new belts side by side. This was definitely due for a change!

Take out the new serpentine belt. I bought this first one off of Amazon.com for around $25.

Route the belt the same as the old one.

TIP: I have a quick recommendation here. I recommend that you put the belt on everything (including the tensioner pulley) except for the idler pulley. Once the tension is backed off, then slip the belt over the idler pulley as well.

Here is a photo of what I am talking about. Notice that the belt is on all the pulleys except for the idler pulley, and once the tension is off of the belt (due to you pulling on the tensioner pulley) then you can slide the belt onto the idler pulley as well:

Once again, put the 14mm wrench on the tensioner pulley, then pull the wrench toward the front of the car to release the tension. Reach under the tensioner pulley and slide the belt onto the idler pulley. Then release the tension on the tensioner and remove the wrench.

There is a handy indicator that tells you if you have the correct tension on the belt. Look for it behind the power steering (top) pulley, next to where the tensioner pulley connects to the engine block. It looks like this. The arrow (on the left) should be pointing somewhere on the bar (on the right).

If the tension is incorrect, so that the arrow does not point at the bar, something is amiss. Double check the belt routing according to the diagram and verify that you are using the correct belt.

And that concludes the instructions for changing the serpentine belt on a Honda Accord!

Yeah, I’d say this old belt was due for a change!

Thanks for reading!

Richard