96 Corsica belt tensioner

[kingjohn39]

Last night the tensioner on my wife's car fell off. I'm talking about the one that keeps tension on the belt that runs the alternator, power steering, water pump etc. I've been scouring the web this morning trying to find some info on how to fix it. The only thing I've learned so far is that I need to put a floor jack under the engine and remove the top motor mount.

Could someone give me a little of advice on this procedure? I'm a pretty competent novice mechanic. I have no problem changing the brakes, alternator, water pump and other minor repairs, but we're afraid this might be beyond me (I'm not sure if the tensioner ties in with something inside the motor for example). So if you know if it requires any special tools, know of a website that explains this, or have any info at all, it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John

[Kooterskkar]

You should be able to get to it from inside the passenger front fenderwell. You might have to lower the engine to do it though. You take off the plastic panels in there and you will be staring right at the crank pulley. You should be able to get a wrench in there to get the bolts out of the tensioer form there. The tensioner is completely seperate from any internal engine parts. So you dont have to worry about anything fallin apart. Three bolts hold it on.