Toad Issues

[J. Ingram]

My alternator belt on a 2003 suzuki grand vitara needs changed. I am having trouble finding out how to loosen the belt. It has two belts and the outer one has a tensioner and it comes off easily. How do I loosen the belt for the alternator?

[stepside454]

im sorry i dont have an answer to your question other than to look at a haynes service manual. I do however have a question about your toad. Everything ive read says that the Suzukis with automatic tranny have to be started after every 2 hours of towing & run through the gears. is yours an automatic ? if so do you do this ?

[Alan_Hepburn]

Typically the alternator is on a swivel mount - you remove one bolt and loosen the other one. Then the alternator will swivel toward the block allowing the belt to be removed.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Quote:

Everything ive read says that the Suzukis with automatic tranny have to be started after every 2 hours of towing & run through the gears. is yours an automatic ? if so do you do this ?

We towed two Chevy Trackers (a Suzuki Vitara with a bow-tie emblem) for over 60k miles, all across the USA and Canada. Always ran the engine a couple minutes somewhere around 200 miles, give or take, whenever we stopped for a break around that time. I would take a potty break and refill my beverage and my wife would hop out and start the car. All done in about 5-8 minutes total.

Always ignored the 55 mph towing speed limit, though.

I know people who did neither thing, and others who religiously did both. All of our Suzukis & Trackers performed just fine and had long and useful lives.

[J. Ingram]

I have been towing my Suzuki for 7 years. I tow four down with the transfer case in neutral and the trans. in park. I stop about every 200 miles (give or take) sometimes I will run over the 200 miles, maybe up to 250 and run the engine for a couple of minutes with the transfer case in nuetral and the trans. in park. I ignore the 55 miles per hour towing limit.

[HD4Mark]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan_Hepburn Typically the alternator is on a swivel mount - you remove one bolt and loosen the other one. Then the alternator will swivel toward the block allowing the belt to be removed.

Although our Tracker (Suzuki with Geo globe and Chevy bow tie) is much older the alternator is this kind of set up. Loosen both bolts, pivot the alt in toward the motor and the belt should be loose.

Are they still putting the hood release in the glove box? I had to get out the manual to figure it out first time I opened it.

Ours is a 2 wheel drive standard so it just goes in neutral with the key on to release the steering lock. I pull the negative battery lead for any long trip.

[J. Ingram]

I just leave the key in the ignition without turning it on, that unlocks the steering wheel. Don't have to worry about the battery.