Starting the Fit this morning...as soon as it fired up, I hear a 'snap'
Battery light on...can mean only one thing....serpentine belt kaput.

Didn't have a 'serpentine belt tool'...so I had to rig a substitute. I was doing the job by myself..so I didn't have any extra hands.
I ended up using a box end wrench with a 7" piece of wood to pry the tensioner back while I threaded the belt on.
Had it most of way there but needed to turn the engine to get it seated all the way over.....which went easy with a socket on the flywheel and a long extension to a breaker bar.
There isn't much working room on that end of the Fit engine.

I have 235K miles on the car....not bad for the original belt.
Will be the last one for this car.
Anyone else have the belt give out when starting?

To pick-up the new belt...I had to take my Prelude out into the snow, sand, salt...twice.
Got lots of looks..."Wth are you doing driving that now?" lol

 

You really like taking things to the limit! Amazing the original belt lasted that long. Personally owned a lot of Honda’s over the years and normally change the belts around 80k or 100k miles. Might want to consider a new auto tensioner.

 

Tensioner felt great...It'll be fine.
Pulleys all spun like new.

I just took my Prelude in this last fall for the timing belt replacement.
It had 120K miles on it, but I know what could happen when those break.

The mechanic gave me the old belt....It would pass for a brand new one and it was 23 years old.

 

Good post, Steve. I was wondering about your thread title, but "235K miles" answered my questions.

I notice that you left out quite a lot of the usual bitching and moaning about how hard it is to do a serpentine belt replacement. Should I feel more confident about doing this job?

 

Yeah, it turned into an easier job than I thought it would be. Another person to hold the tensioner pulley back would have been nice. I could have waited till evening for some extra hands, but I got impatient.
With the splash guard off, it's simple to work the belt on and turn the engine for the last little bit. I used a metric combo wrench for the tensioner...pushed it back as far as I could and placed a 7 inch piece of wood....one end of the wood against the wrench...the other end against the body of the car next to the radiator.
I had 4 of the 5 ribs in positon...turned the engine clockwise a quarter turn with the breaker bar and the belt walked onto the final correct spot....easy.

Hope that helps...If I can do it..anyone can do it!

 

I have replaced the belt twice on my 09 Fit. Both times had someone to assist me. The belt fits really snug on these cars. Done several Accords by myself with no issues. Good tip to remember in the future.

 

I'm taking the opportunity to show a pic of the Fit (which had the broken belt) and my Prelude that I drove through the snow, and salt to pick-up the belt.
The Prelude pics were taken last summer...the Fit in November. The Prelude is my gem. I'm the original owner...it's a 98 with 125K miles. Perfect interior and excellent exterior.

 

Very nice Prelude ! Must have been garaged for most of it’s life to have paint that pristine.

 

^^^ Thanks! Yes, whenever it isn't driven..it's in the garage.
Around 2003, I noticed an area of the hood changing color. (about 2ft dia.) I wonder if the engine heat did it?
I had the whole hood re-painted and it's been fine since.
The side skirts are not original....I hated the black textured ones.

I also should mention that I installed a 75 hp Zex Nitrous kit in 2005.
Bottle heater, remote opener, and all in the trunk....fun, fun, fun!

 

Nice pics and cars, Steve. I didn't realize that the Prelude was a desirable car. I guess my thoughts tend to go to the Fit on one end and the S2000 on the other.

 

The Prelude ended in 2001...the S2000 arrived in 1999.
The Prelude was prob known for being more of a grand tourer...it was Honda's flagship car from 1978 until 2001
Prelude seats four and is a larger, heavier car than the S2000

I've driven both...similar in a lot of areas...the S 2000 is more fun when driven hard. The Prelude is a more comfortable car. Both handle very well.
I have owned a 3rd, 4th, and 5th generation Preludes. The one shown is a 5th and I'm the original owner.

 

I'm jealous that the 2nd gens got an auto-tensioner. In the 1st gen you have to loosen an alternator pivot bolt, lock bolt, and then the tension bolt itself to adjust tension, and even once you've got all that done you have very little access to actually check what the tension is without taking off the right wheel and removing the splash shield.

 

^^^ It was necessary for me to remove the tire and splash shield on my 2010.
A person with '7 year old boy hands' and long skinny arms might might be able to do it without removing them.

But to seat the belt all the way over...I had to turn the engine with a socket.