Replacing 91 Cavalier Belt Tensioner

Hey everyone,

I have a 91 Chevy Cavalier 4-door sedan (4 cylinder) with 190,000 miles on it. All of a sudden, after starting the car, I heard a loud squealing. I checked under the hood, and the serpentine belt is very slack. I used a 15 mm wrench to adjust the idler pulley upwards, to make the belt tight, but merely pressing down on the belt with my hand makes the pulley go back down again, and the belt becomes loose. The belt itself appears fine. I guess I need a new belt tensioner??

After consulting the offical Chevy shop manual, it appears that replacing the tensioner is an easy fix. Just remove the belt, PS pump, and loosen two alternator bolts. I have done quite a bit of work on my car myself, such as replacing tie rod ends, rear springs, valve cover gasket, water pump, radiator, brake calipers, brake lines, etc., so this does not worry me.

I am worried, however, that the PS pulley have to be removed to access the PS pump bolts. The pulley is rather large. It's dark out now, so I can't tell for sure, but it appears I will have to remove the pulley to access the bolts?? Can I still leave the hoses attached so I don't have to bleed?

Is there a temp fix I can use just to make my car driveable, so I can get to the parts store?

I suppose if all the pulleys suddenly stopped turning while driving, the only harm would be the coolant not circulating, and the consequent overheating, right? As well as the draining of the battery, although I have a professional charger for that.

Thanks for any help!

Julie

Another thing I am wondering is this:

The manual says never apply more than 30 lb. ft of torque when turning the idler pulley bolt to remove or install the serpentine belt. But how does one know how much torque one is applying? I always use a 15 mm box-end wrench. It is almost impossible to fit a socket/ratchet over the bolt, given the wheel well inner body interferes. I once got a 1/4" ratchet/socket over the bolt, but it was hard to get off.

Also, I notice there is a groove in the belt tensioner from the belt apparently rubbing against it. But the belt itself is fine. This has been going on for a few years now, and never happened before. I am wondering if I somehow caused this problem, because:

a) One of the bracket bolts has always been missing from my alternator set up. When I replaced my alternator a few years ago, I put that bolt in, but then there was another place that had previously had a bolt where I was no longer able to get the bolt in. But there are enough other bolts holding it in place where I feel it is fine. You can't even budge the alternator by pushing it.

b) In 1999, I removed the idler tensioner pulley just for the hell of it, as I replaced my water pump. I reinstalled it, and torqued it to spec. I hope I wasn't supposed to line anything up!?

you don't have to pull the p/s pulley off to remove the pump. you can put a 13 mm socket through the holes in the pulley to get to the 3 bolts holding the pump on, there are bracket bolts on the back.

you don't have to pull the p/s pulley off to remove the pump. you can put a 13 mm socket through the holes in the pulley to get to the 3 bolts holding the pump on, there are bracket bolts on the back.

Thank you! You're right. I'm glad they did this, and I was able to get the new tensioner on yesterday, thankfully. Still, I wish the pulley were easily removable, as this would make installation easier (lining up the holes in the tensioner, bracket, and PS pump).

Julie