No 4-wheeling in the mud for me. The truck is just a tow rig.

 

You can get the tensioner cheaper at parts house like Napa. But it won't have the convient lock tab..

 

That's a nice little tidbit to know. For those that have changed the belts, how imp. do you deem the locking tab?

 

just an fyi here the tensioner is a 5/100 part as well. so if you are having an issue with it the belt may be casual damage and replaced durring the repair.

 

Just curious how imp. the locking tab is after the warranties are all gone and I'm getting my hands dirty again?

 

Well look at it this way GM's do not have the lock tab, and yet thousands of them get changed.When I changed the one on my Ford I thought what a great idea to have the lock tab. It was real handy and just made the job easier..But the Napa tensioner I replaced it with does not have the lock tab and it took a little more stamina to hold the tensioner and install the belt by myself.
You might cuss a little more under your breath as you join the world of GMers...lol....

 

I don't know how important it is. When I changed my belt I was unable to get the tensioner to lock, and I didn't have to many issues. It would have been nice, but I don't think it is nessacery.

 

Just thought I'd resurrect this thread and throw my .02 in here. My '05 Excursion had a 7/70,000 extended warranty (which turned out to be worth its weight in gold ... but that's another story), so it's only now in the eighth year that I'm beginning to get my hands dirty. Just replaced my alternator and I have several thoughts:

First, While I was unaware of the "belt pull at the alternator" trick, I DID come across the video of "The Powerstroke Tool," and since I have a welder I chose to make my own ... LOVE that tool! Using the other trick in the video, where a bungie cord is used to keep the belt taut while locking the tensioner, changing out the alternator was literally an easy, ten minute job (not including the part where I took the OEM 110W alternator to a local shop and had them rebuild me a 200W replacement). With so little clearance between the shroud and the tensioner, having a slim, 2ft long flat bar with the 1/2" driver welded on in exactly the right orientation made the job a simple no-brainer!

The flat bar has a hole drilled at the other end so that you can attach a rope or bungie cord to hold the tensioner in the event it doesn't have a locking tab (Mine does). I plan to keep this tool in the truck, just in case I ever have to replace the belt and/or tensioner on the road. If I had the time to wait for shipment, I would have gladly paid the $30 he's asking for his custom tool just to save the time/aggravation of having to try and do it any other way (especially if there's no locking tab on the tensioner).

Btw, I chose to spend some extra dough to have a more powerful alternator built because I run a variety of accessories on my "X" and thought that perhaps my batteries died an early death because the stock unit couldn't keep up. Similar aftermarket units seem to be going for $350-$600 so $225 seemed like a real deal!

One more thing ... I personally would try to buy a replacement tensioner WITH the locking tab, but if the price difference was excessive I wouldn't worry about it, if only because I have the tool to make the job easy either way. Without the tool the locking tab becomes more important in my opinion.

Regards,

 

GearWrench 3680 Ratcheting Wrench Serpentine Belt Tool - Amazon.com

Universal and awesome

 

Oh ... one more thing. Some people were wondering exactly how the locking tab works (and two days ago I was one of them). It's actually a pretty simple deal...

If you were to look at the rotating hub of the tensioner straight on, you'd see the Notch at about 8-o-clock, and the tab that pivots up and in toward the center of the hub at 7 o-clock. As the tensioner is compressed (either by pulling on the belt or using the tool to rotate it), the notch rotates clockwise to the 9 o-clock position and the tab simply pivots toward the center and in front of it, so that it can't rotate back down. Once it's pressed in, simply releasing tension on the belt or tool holds the tab in place and "locks" the tensioner.

Once the repair is complete, simply pulling on the belt or using the tool to rotate the tensioner releases the tab and allows it to "fall out" of the way of the notch on its own ... after which the tensioner can spring back on to the belt and hold it taut. If you check out the previously posted pictures you should be able to see the tab and notch.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

 

All I did when I replaced my alternator was put a bungy cord on the serpentine to keep it tight, remove the charge cable and plug from the alternator, remove all 3 alternator bolts (holding the alternator in place while removing the bolts), then just tilt the alternator forward to remove the serpentine from the alternator....... installation was reversed and it worked great! Took all of about 10-15 minutes with no special tools. I will likely use this same method when the time comes to replace the serpentine belt..... as I could not figure out how to get the tab to lock for the life of me!

 

If you think you need all the extra attachments, then I agree ... very nice kit and not unreasonably priced.

The only thing I don't like about it is that the part of the kit that does this particular job (locking the tensioner) seems a little too short for the job. on my "X" the end of the handle wouldn't extend far enough or provide the desired leverage that my two foot long homemade version does. A perfect solution would be to add a sliding handle extension that fits/locks over the handle and would almost double its length without significantly changing the thickness. Then it would be "perfect!"

Thanks for sharing it, though ... might have to add one of those to my collection, hehe!

Regards,

 

I've done mine and I'm not that handy. Having a serpentine belt tool of some kind helps a lot - otherwise that is the hardest part. Once you've done it once, it will be 5-10min the next time. The first time, I think I spent about 2 hrs wrestling with the belt and the locking tab - bought the tool and it took 30 sec.