Wasted $80 on a 'special' serpentine belt tool

I bought this fancy belt tool with the long handle and swivel head because the YouTube guy made it look easy. Got it home, tried it on a 2012 Ford Focus, and the thing wouldn't even fit between the tensioner and the radiator hose. Spent 20 minutes wrestling with it before giving up and just using my old 14mm ratchet and a breaker bar like I always do. The tool is now sitting in my drawer collecting dust. I could have bought three cases of beer for that money. Anyone else fall for a tool that looked great online but was useless in real life?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela431mo ago

Did you try watching a different video to see if someone else had a trick for using it on that specific model? Honestly, half the battle is just finding the right angle or a different spot to wedge it in, but sometimes the design just doesn't work with the space you've got. Ngl, I've got a drawer full of those one-job tools that basically become expensive paperweights after a single use.

miab871mo ago

Three cases of beer wouldve been a better investment honestly. @angela43 I get where you're coming from but sometimes you just gotta accept the tool was a dud and move on rather than digging through more videos trying to make it work. Some of these specialty tools are designed for a perfect world where every engine bay has an extra inch of space.