07 Honda Odyssey serpentine belt and tensioner replacement

Replacing the serpentine belt and the tensioner on a 2007 Honda Odyssey. This is an ex-l model with the j35a7 v6 engine.
Gates tensioner kit for j35a7
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...

[@atxjax1]

Thanks for the video. Once the tensioner is installed per the Honda manual you are supposed to fully compress the tensioner 3 times before installing the belt.

[@Whitestrash]

Good to know. Thanx for the info.

[@saltwaterscratcher]

@@Whitestrash your welcome…. Went to put the new belt on and I stripped the tension bolt to put the belt on…. Now I’m in trouble

[@juantoledo4857]

@@saltwaterscratcher saw another video where the guy just put a pry bar between the balancer/crank pulley and the piston itself to compress it and the last pulley to place belt on was the crank pulley itself.

[@corceles]

How do you compress it?

[@atxjax1]

@@corceles By turning the tensioner slowly like if you are going to remove the belt.

[@razorillusion8892]

Thank you best descripted video I’ve seen on this

[@fromundadeez4823]

Good vid. To anyone questioning their tensioner you’re better off to replace it. Mine had no symptoms at all at 150k and it threw the belt and broke off the main tensioner bolt flush with the bracket. Had to remove alternator, ac compressor and the bracket to extract the broken bolt.

[@packerman1203]

wouldve been better to switch out the bracket and retrofit a mechanical tensioner.

[@shadowopsairman1583]

#never fwd

[@billmcroberts6566]

One important item is bleeding the air out of the hydraulic tensioner. According to the Honda technical manual you have to use the “breaker bar 19mm socket” arrangement to compress the hydraulic tensioner taking 3 seconds and then compress it 3 more times. If you don’t, the long bolt holding the tensioner assembly on will break. I know by experience.

[@barrya.6212]

Thanks for the heads up!

[@barrya.6212]

COULD YOU ELABORATE? ...i just need to replace belt and it's near impossible to turn tension/ release pressure...so I do 4 partial turns on bottom "release nut" PART WAY to release some tension so I can turn it all the way to release belt ??

[@billmcroberts6566]

@@barrya.6212 you release pressure on the belt by using breaker bar to push the tensioner assembly toward the cabin. If you are replacing belt, why not just cut the old belt and remove it?

[@jonathanfarnsworth5966]

I have also learned this from experience. Please don’t just crack that bolt without doing this very important step.

[@mogong7260]

How do you bleed that?

[@geomod6850]

The belt on this van is a real BITCH to get back on. Great video. Thank you. It helped save me some time for sure.

[@sle6497]

Good instructional video. Thanks.

[@metop33]

Cool tips man thank you!!

[@saltwaterscratcher]

This can be done without taking the tire and stuff off. You can reach the bolt from under the van. I did it without jacking the van up

[@joelgomez5806]

You sir are well appreciated 👏

[@dricklorenz9340]

Helpful. Thanks.

[@Emmssa]

Nice video, just a note all cars use these types of clips

[@MiguelAngel-jp6xo]

Thanks a lot, I did it. 😊

[@joselito1186]

I’ve seen many bad reviews on this tensioner kit where people have said that the bolt provided with the kit breaks, have you had similar issues or is everyone installing the bolt or over torquing the bolt and causing it to fail?

[@Whitestrash]

I didn't have any issues. That's not to say it doesn't happen.

[@carlexus3133]

my bolt just broke, did yours. 2mo repair.

[@scowell]

This is for the higher trims, right? The DX and LX have a different setup I'm seeing. I have an EX-L and this is probably the right setup for me.

[@Whitestrash]

Yes the ex-l and touring have this setup. It's the j36a7 engine with the vcm.

[@matthewcantrell1489]

What size is the bottom bolt on the tensioner? “M10 1.25x “

[@scottytoohottie7172]

It's hydraulic when you push on it you have to wait for it to releave itself and push more or push very very slowly

[@geneb2262]

unless it goes bad, and seizes, like mine

[@lanas9862]

Do you still have the Serpentine Belt size or part number for Honda Odyssey 2007? thanks

[@Whitestrash]

I think i showed the part number in the vid. Just make sure you get the right one for your engine. The lx and ex have a different engine than the ex-l and touring of that year.

[@CardboardTriangle2]

How do I find out if the tensioner needs to be replaced or just the belt? The car makes a squeaky noise for a while after I start the car.

[@Whitestrash]

What i do, when it's running, spray a little water on the belt. If the noise quiets or goes away, it's the belt. If there's no change in sound, it's likely an accessory. Possibly the tensioner.

[@mplsfarmer]

My 2007 Odyssey has a different tensioner. You actually use a 14 mm socket and push on the pulley itself because there isn't any 19 mm nut external to the pulley. (See kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2KVdXuwlrmUnbc). On the tensioner shown in this video there is a second external 19 mm nut to move the tensioner that you can only see from under the passenger side wheel well. The tensioner has a hydraulic "shock absorber" instead of a mechanical spring. One KZbinr said that you have to push on it very slowly and patiently to allow time for the hydraulic fluid to move. (kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKS2dadtbtOoacU). On a 2011 Honda Pilot I snapped a special serpentine belt removal tool by trying to move it too quickly. I also stripped the 19 mm nut and had to remove the tensioner to file down the edges to fit an 18 mm socket.

[@Whitestrash]

Is your odyssey an ex-l or touring? I believe these are the only ones with the j35a7 engine (the one with vcm). If yours is an ex or an lx, it likely has a j35a6 which may have a different style tensioner.

[@mplsfarmer]

@@Whitestrash YES! my Odyssey (Odd-You-See) is an EX. I don't see anywhere on the engine the type j35a7 stamped. Nor could I find that info from two different VIN decoders I use. But I went to NAPAonline.com and they ask is your engine an i-VTEC or a VTEC. When I looked up tensioners for my VTEC engine I see the photo of the one with the 14 mm bolt on the pulley and when I look at the photo for the i-VTEC it shows the two 19 mm bolts (nuts) external to the tensioner. Why Honda does this I don't know. I recently found out from experience that the front brake pads for a 2007 Accord made in the USA vs Canada are different. Thanks!

[@thecocreta]

EX and LX versions have a different belt tensioner type that EX-L and Touring….which I don’t understand why as it’s the same engine.

[@michaelwoods6393]

One of the key features this video is missing ....is recording the symptoms you may have had before swapping out the pulleys. That would have been helpful.

[@Whitestrash]

You're right. I was having intermittent belt chirping. This lead me to question the integrity of the tensioner. Also, the bearings felt loose on the tensioner and idler when I looked into it.

[@michaelwoods6393]

@@Whitestrash Regardless, your video was awesome and it really helped me out! Thanks.

[@Victor-cd4hn]

Any torque specs on tensioner bolts?

[@Whitestrash]

I don't have any. I just used the calibrated arm.

[@geomod6850]

Definitely start the bottom bolt before tightening the main bolt.

[@packerman1203]

this hydraulic tensioner is terrible, ive had 4 or 5 of them strip and or break on my 2010 crosstour. 2011 and 12 had the different mechanical tensioner. I bought the bracket and tensioner for my car, much better and i recommend everyone with this tensioner do the same before it causes more trouble, all you should have to do on most of the v6s across the line is take off the radiator fan, take off the alternator, unbolt the ac compressor and unbolt the bracket, you can take the tensioner with it (if your catalytic converter has a bolt that goes into this bracket remove that little bracket as well). The mechanical tensioner uses a 14mm bolt and the same 12mm that goes into the bottom of this one. It is 1000x easier to tension than the hydraulic one and it's made of steel where you tension from instead of the cheapest aluminum known to man.

[@soilBGuRu420]

You got the part number for the bracket and tensioner?

[@shadowopsairman1583]

#never fwd

[@pnweezy]

I gotta say most Honda got stupid design! After 2003

[@soilBGuRu420]

Frfr. Shit strips easy