chevyboy_z28

yesterday i found out that the reason my car died was b/c my alternator was bad and it killed my battery, so i replaced both. im in the process of putting the new alternator in but i cant seem to work the belt up over the pulley (theres not enuf slack ). is there a tensioner or something i b/c this m/f aint budging?

joeSS97

Yes there is a tensioner.You have to go under the car.I believe its a 15mm.

AsianSensation

You will need a 13mm socket. See pic below. I like to slip the belt over the tensioner pulley last while other like to put the belt over the crankshaft balancer last while releasing the tension on the pulley.
Tensioner

chevyboy_z28

i dont understand, i unloosened the tensioner bolt, and tried to see if that would give me any slack and it didnt, so i took the whole tensioner off and now the belt fits over the alternator, but the dam tensioner is off . how are you supposed to do this. on your diagram it says and the belt just fell right off. well mine didnt come off until the whole tensioner was off. somebody please explain?

AsianSensation

The tenioner rotates to give you slack, you have to put some muscle behind it to give a lot of slack. Taking the bolt off on the tensioner is the wrong way to do it.

shox9879

hope you buy gm parts from the gm dealer i bought a alternator from pepboys went on a 500 mile trip changed it twice on the way bought a gm part never went bad agian

shoebox

Tensioner. As you crank clockwise, the tensioner will swing and give you slack. You don't take the pulley off.