That is how I had to replace mine. Much more fun on a 240 since there is no evil fan clutch......

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

I believe the next belt size is 1017 mm. I might try that on the next belt replacement. I'm not optimistic, however, because the slot on the tensioner isn't all that long and the longer belts may result in the inability to fully tension.

We'll see..........

I just replaced all three of mine a couple of weeks ago. When purchasing he told me there showed to different numbers for the alternator belt. One is 1 inch shorter than the other one. I got the longer one, and it worked out good.

Gotta love the simplicty of the 240s. Mine doesn't even have AC so I only have two belts and all kind of room to change them, which I did yesterday in about 20 minutes.

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I'd go to the store and get a slightly longer belt. If its that tight its to short.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Man taking off the water pump seems like a pain....We're going to try the heating the belt idea and maybe have to buy a little longer one..if need be. It seems as though theres more room to tension the belt away from the engine block certainly..Ok..Again we welcome any and all feedback..and for those that have chimed YOU ROCK!

Dakota

I've never had to remove the water pump pulley on the 123 617's that I've changed belts on.

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Interesting comments we are seeing, some say remove water pump, now you say it can be done without that headache??

Any sage advice you can offer, or do you think the belt is too small?

If you cannot get the belt on by rotating the engine (via the ps pump) then the belt is too tight. I would take it back. You have to be real careful with the belts you get for these cars. I have had them too tight and too narrow before, even from the dealer!

The belt should be tight, but still let you get it on the pulley and tighten the adjuster.

Good luck!

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"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

The '81 has the larger water pump pulley and uses the longer belts.

What belt length do you have? If it's 1000 mm, it's not the correct size. 1040 mm seems to stick in my head.