Fordguy11

I have a 1991 Tbird, V6 that I need to replace the serpentine belt on. The part that is giving me fits is the tensioner arm which is located on the left side of the engine below the AC compressor.

On my car, the tensioner has a standard pulley on one end of it. On the other end is a pivot pount with a nut or screw of some sort countersunk into it. It doesn't have a standard nut on it so that you can't put a wrench or socket on it. It seems to have some type of multi-point nut (or screw) sunken into the front of it but there isn't room to put a screwdriver in there either.

I've been told that some of these tension arms are spring loaded but mine isn't. It clearly looks as if you need to loosen/adjust that countersunk nut in order to loosen the tension on the belt and re-tighten it later. I've also been told that I should be able to do it with a ratchet or box wrench but there is no way you can fit a standard wrench in there on my car.

As near as I can determine, it takes something called a special serpentine belt tool to fit in there and adjust this tensioner. Is that true? And if it is, how can I get one? If I have to go out and spend $50-$75 for a special tool to adjust the serpentine belt tension, that's going to take away a lot of the advantage of doing it myself. Thanks in advance.

thefonz

Advantage would be that you would own the tool and be able to use it in the future, if not on this car, then the next one you own. The tool should be about thirty dollars.