[the_man_from_TN]

Hey everyone! I need a little help...I noticed my belt tensioner assembly clicking, so I figured the spring had finally wore out. (You can also see the tensioner pulley moving back and forth easily) I decided to change it knowing all I had to do was remove the belt, take off one bolt and put the new assembly on. Not so fast...
I tried for 3 hours to get that bolt out (being careful not to strip it) with no luck. Does anyone have any experience or insight with this? This is supposed to be a 15 minute job and it is kicking my butt.

Thanks!!! :thup::thup::thup:

 

[rhobll]

Hey, Welcome to the forum TN! Try tapping the bolt with a hammer and some spray lube. I was able to remove it with ease. Mine was clicking, was able to get some oil into the spring and it went away.

 

[Mongo]

So are you saying the bolt is seized and NOT moving at all? Get a bigger wrench or put an extension on the wrench for more leverage i.e. a pipe. Penetrating oil, like PB Blaster and let it soak in overnight, could help. Heat can help also, a plumbers torch to heat it up a bit, do NOT get the metal glowing, that causes damage to the surrounding area and the metal temper of the bolt itself. Already mentioned was the rap of a hammer, the shock sometimes breaks the threads free from the corrosion holding them together.

Keep in mind, dirt and containments in the tensioner can create noise, sometimes replacing it is the only cure for getting the dirt out. If oil reduces the noise, if its NOT washing the dirt out, then its only a temporary fix.

Also keep in mind, that other accessories can have problem that will cause a lot tension changes on the belt and move that tensioner back and forth a lot.

Late model alternators have a pulley with a clutch in it, to let the alternator overrun the belt drive, this greatly reduces the stress on the belt and other accessories. But this clutched pulley on the alternator often fails, making clicking noise and huge changes in belt tension. One test for a good clutch pulley on the alternator, have a helper rev the engine up to 3k rpm, while you watch the alternator, look inside the opening at the spinning armature inside. Have the helper shut off the motor as watch the spinning armature inside, after the motor and belt stops, you should still see the armature in the alternator spinning for a few more seconds. If the armature stops dead with the belt and motor, the clutch pulley is bad.

 

[Danny]

I had the exact same problem not even a month ago !!!! No matter what we tried, you could feel it about to strip out but would not budge. We tried deep creep, WD-40, etc. and nothing worked. What we had to do was, get a set of blue point sockets (I think they're made by snap on). They grab the head of the bolt in a different way....like instead of holding the edges they hold the flat points (or vise versa). This, and an 18 inch pipe that we put over the ratchet handle for leverage finally kicked its a**