Hi Otty, the fan belt on your mondeo is tensioned by a spring loaded tensioner. If you haven't removed the old one yet do as follows:
Draw a diagram of the route taken by the belt around all the pulleys. This way you will be able to replace it without trying to work out what goes where! Look at the pulleys and find the one with an alan key shape hole in it, this is the tensioner jockey wheel. Get a snug fitting alan key, this is important as you will need to apply a lot of pressure to overcome the tension. Using a strong tube over the alan key, turn the key to overcome the tension, I think its anti-clockwise, but you will soon find out as you will not be able to move it in the wrong direction. With the tension off the belt whilst still pulling on the alan key, slip the belt off the pulleys. IMPORTANT do not let the alan key go, just gently let the tensioner return to its rest position and watch your fingers!! Fitting is just a reverse of the above, taking care of the routing of the belt, this is where your drawing pays off! Make sure the belt fits correctly on the pulleys, it must not protrude over the edge of the pulleys but ride in the grooves. Make sure everything is tight, and test before refitting covers etc.
Paul, February 2008
