Alternator and serpentine belt install..Success!!!

[G-Benz]

Go figure! Took me a week of on and off deinstallation of parts while waiting for alternator to come in.

Impossibly tight bolts, not sure how to relax belt tensioner, wrong tools, and the list goes on and on.

Took the old and new alternators to a shop this morning, and the owner worked the incredibly torque'd 22mm bolt off with his impact wrench and swapped the pulley. No charge. Guess I just found a new indie!

Reinstalling the alternator...10 minutes. Reinstalling the belt, 2 minutes...NO messing with the tensioner or anything...threaded it by hand. Simple as that. Belt is tight too!

I am told that fan clutch gets in the way, but I was able to install the belt without removing the clutch. I did remove the fan though. Not sure why it was so easy to thread the belt...maybe because it stretches a bit and because of its width.

Reinstalled fan and shroud and started car. Voltage is between 13.5 and 14 volts...no gassing of the battery...much better. Belt appears fine...fired up accessories...all is well.

Glad that job is done!!! Total install time: 30 minutes!

From some of the other threads I've read and instructions Ive seen on the manual and CD-ROM, I wouldn't dare post any DIY pics of the process...apparently the belt removal and reinstall was unorthodox, as was the whole deinstall process.

I now know how to do an alternator swap, but I don't EVER want to deal with that belt tensioner!!!