Belt Woes

[narcolepticus]

So, i am driving to work when, just down the street from my house, i start hearing this strange, loud, flapping noise. Depress the clutch, it went away. Upon acceleration, the noise grew louder, then like i hit something, snap!

Battery indicator lights up, temps start to increase, not good.. Turned it around, got it home. I opened the hood to find that i am missing a belt!

So, question .. i am pretty mechanically inclined but have never done a belt swap on a 3 .. is this a fairly easy task? OR should I bite the bullet and take it in?

I am kinda eff'd without my car ..

[narcolepticus]

Going to pick up a belt today .. hopefully Forbes can hook me up

[cwp_sedan]

I found something that might help you. I haven't done it so I don't know for sure. Atleast this will give you an idea of what is involved.

http://www.mazdaclub.net/mz3ws/
The belt and tensioner replacement procedure is listed under Engine > Mechanical.

[TheMAN]

check your belt tensioner... the 04s had a plastic belt tensioner that is known to break and break belts in the process... there is a TSB on this explaining the issue... look on protegefaq.net... they're american TSBs but it won't matter to you because your car is out of warranty... but its good information to look at and parts information is there also

[kevcol74]

Make sure you still have a tensioner pulley as mentioned! M 04 GT tensioner pulley detonated and took the belt with it! Like TheMAN says, the plastic pulleys are part of a TSB, they replaced mine under the extended warranty I had with a newer metal pulley. Forbes likely has it in stock. Talk to Mat Galagher, and mention to him or Charlie at the parts counter that you are on TM3,you'll get a discount.

[TheMAN]

even if it's not broken, it's a good idea to replace it since it was a cheaply made POS!

[narcolepticus]

yeah i had to replace the tensioner (totally snapped, plastic POS) and both belts .. all good now and she runs a helluva lot better for some reason lol .. except for, what i believe is, a little slippage in the clutch. Sometimes it seems to not want to hook up then sometimes it feels like i get a bit of a power boost in 2nd - 4th gear range..