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Not sure if there's even an option. I can't find a bypass pully for it. The way the 03 is set up not sure if there's a way to run a smaller belt.

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  • Is the ac pulley squealing or seized, preventing the serpentine belt from running? One way to determine which pulley seized or making noise would be removing the serp belt and hand turning each driven pulley. Some spring loaded belt tensioners lose their ability to maintain belt tension and allow belt squealing. If you can deflect the serp belt easily with fingers then the tensioner may be worn out.
    – F Dryer
    Aug 29, 2022 at 18:15

2 Answers 2

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There's no real way to use a shorter belt, that's due to the idler pulley between the AC and alternator. You could feasibly bypass both the AC and idler pulley, but the problem would then be there wouldn't be very much surface area contact between the belt and the alternator pulley, so you'd most likely get a LOT of squealing, which would give you charging problems as well.

Here's the layout of your serpentine system:

enter image description here

If you did chose to go this route, you'd need to measure around the belt path to get a circumference and then convert it into a belt number. The inside length of the belt for your Accord should be 84.06" long and have six ribs. If looking at Gates belts, this equates to a part number of: K060841. If you can measure and get the length of what the new belt should be, you should be able to create a new part number for this. For instance, if the new belt length should be 70.5" long, the new belt number might be K060705. You may have to do some hunting choosing some numbers which are up/down from this to come up with a match. When you find a close enough match, you'll want to err on the side of short rather than long. Then, you'll want to purchase a belt next size up and next size smaller, so you'll be able to find something which will work for you. Once you get the one which does work, return the other two for a refund. If you don't want or can't find a Gates belt, use the number to cross reference to other manufacturers to find what you need.

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    Is there definitely nothing that will be in the way of the belt in its new path from the alternator to the crank shaft pulley?
    – HandyHowie
    Aug 29, 2022 at 22:22
  • @HandyHowie - While you raise an interesting point, that would be for the OP to see for themselves. Thinking on the J-series V6 engines, I think there's a motor mount in the road. Aug 29, 2022 at 23:09
  • I agree. Just wanted to make sure that the OP didn't presume you knew for definite and didn't do any checks before buying a shorter belt.
    – HandyHowie
    Aug 30, 2022 at 6:21
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The question raised is why do you want to bypass the A/C compressor? If the compressor is failed or seized, it would make more sense to replace the A/C compressor than to try to engineer a new serpentine system for a mass production engine. There have to be thousands of Honda 3.0L engines that use that same compressor (just a cursory check on that serpentine belt shows it to have been used in 10 different Honda and Acura models between 2002 and 2017).

Second option would be to find the serpentine belt from a trim level that didn't have A/C. Long ago that was easy since A/C was usually an expensive option and the most basic (and therefore numerous) trims didn't have it. Unfortunately, not possible with your Accord. I don't find an Accord of that generation without A/C. Honda has since decided that it is cheaper to make millions of one thing than to make a half million each of two kinds of thing.

If the compressor is fine and you just want to "remove" the A/C (we used to do that to our volkswagens as teenagers, thinking we were making the car faster), it is a lot simpler to just leave it there and leave it turned off. Turned off, it's no different than another idler pulley and doesn't add enough drag to make any meaningful difference.

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