lets kick him when he's down!

[justice]

I could have sworn I just replaced that driver's handle when I got the vehicle! That doesn't speak well for the other handle I have in the Astro then. :-k

I know I replaced one of those door handles as soon as I bought it, because it was broken at the time I bought it, or nearly broken.

I think you had told me that you replaced the passenger door handle. I replaced the the passenger door and moved the lock and handle from the old door to the new one...

And now to add something else to the list (getting kicked again!) on the way home last night, coming from a stop light i hear loud racket under the hood that sounded like the motor just fell apart...

pulled into a parking lot and popped the hood to find that the serpetine belt had just shredded itself. Managed to limp the van back home (luckily i was not far from home) Got a new belt this morning and i'll be dammed if I cannot get the tensioner to move enough to get the new belt on...

I think I need another set of hands to assist. I also found a hose rubbing against the power steering pulley that i will need to address as well.. ](*,)

[SafariRob]

Justice, that tensioner in your 87 has to be the same one my 89 has...your 87 has the stamped steel serpentine belt accessory bracket, right?
If so, I'd grab a 15mm deep socket and ratchet, slither under the drivers side of the engine below the power steering pump, and check the tightness of the nut on the rear of the pump that secures the rear bracket. If that nut gets loose, or worse, falls off, the accessory bracket will flex around the power steering pump. Allowed to do this for too long and the accessory bracket will crack around the pump and the serpentine belt won't stay on the pulleys. I first ran into this on my 89 Safari and I've seen cracked accessory brackets on several junkyard Astros since.
As for releasing the tension on the tensioner pulley arm, I use a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar and a 16mm (I think that's the right size) short socket on the tensioner pulley center bolt. I pull the breaker bar to release the tension on the belt, and while holding the bar steady with one hand, I use the other hand to flip the belt out of the way of the tensioner. I then slowly allow the tensioner arm to return to normal. I reverse this procedure to install a new belt. Never had a problem doing it this way and it only takes seconds.

[justice]

are you puttng the socket on the bolt in the center of the pulley itself? How are you able to apply leverage to it like that?

Is your a/c comprerssor on the drivers or passenger side?

[SafariRob]

Yes, I put the socket on the tensioner pulley centerbolt. The breaker bar provides the leverage--but do a little planning when you put the socket on the centerbolt because the upper radiator hose will limit the travel of the breaker bar; at least it does on my 89 but that could be because of the radiator hose I used on the engine. I've noticed that different aftermarket radiator hose manufacturers make the upper hose a bit differently from one another.

The AC compressor on my 89 is on the passenger side. Or at least it was until I removed and replaced the compressor with the AC delete pulley.

[justice]

and once again, the day is saved! Thanks to AstroSafariVans.com!

I got the belt on there now, thanks to your tip Rob!

I ended up having to use the tube fro a short microphone stand with my 1/2" ratchet to get the leverage I needed but its done and it will not be a problem in the future! =D>