Stretch belt tool

Q Do you have any thoughts on the small wedges used to get stretch belts off pulleys? Are they any good? I need to replace a pulley on my Ford Fiesta to change the thermostat housing. My local mechanic says to use a crowbar to lever the alternator back, but I am dubious as it puts a lot of pressure on lower bolt fixing. If not using a bar, how do you get the belt back on? D Bennett

A I have tried a belt-fitting tool and I found it difficult and very time consuming to use. I would take your local mechanic’s advice to lever out the alternator top bolt, fit the belt and lever the alternator into position. This will not put any more pressure on the lower bolt than is experienced during normal use.

You have not mentioned which Fiesta you have, but if it is the 1.6 TI-VCT then the alternator can almost be swung back into place by hand with very little effort.

On vehicles with a stretchy belt, which do not have the option of moving the alternator, I have fashioned a small piece of steel which I use to guide the belt over the edge of the crankshaft pulley. Laser can provide a nylon tool to guide the belt off and on which can be found at here: http://bit.ly/2cmt00l. Although I’ve never used this, I suspect it would be a good choice.