[V6-12v] serpentine (accessory) belt - revisited

[Tom Christiansen]

At 11:35 AM 4/11/2005, Kent McLean wrote:
>The "other" part of the damper, bolted to the engine block, does
>indeed take a 10mm hex head wrench.  So I put a long Allen wrench
>on it, and it wouldn't budge.  I put a 10mm hex driver in a
>3/8" breaker bar, and with a 2 foot (65cm) cheater pipe, *still*
>couldn't budge it. I buggered the breaker bar (Hello, Craftsman?).

Eh...? I replaced the accessory belt on mine (1994 90S). Didn't touch the 
idler pulley (where is that exactly anyway?) I didn't have any trouble 
getting the tensioner off, although, it turned out that I didn't have to 
get it off. There's a hex hole in the tensioner that'll allow you to swing 
it out of the way so you can get the belt off. It didn't take more force 
that a normal size Craftsman 3/8" drive rachet could provide without me 
breaking a sweat at all.

>Q1. Does a 10mm hex wrench, turned clockwise, release the tension
>     on the idler pulley/belt tensioning damper?

I don't recall the bolt being a left-hand thread. It should just screw out. 
Leftie-loosie. Righty-tighty...

>Q2. Should the damper move freely, but with some effort?

That's what it does on mine. It's spring loaded and will require some 
effort, but not anything that should require the use of a breaker bar.

>Q3. Will rust penetrant applied to the 10mm hex head bolt free it?

It's worth a try. Get some of the oil that creeps.

>Q4. If not, how the heck to you remove the thing?

The only other method I know of is heat.... Ox-Acetylene torch. Heat the 
bolt up... Re-thread the bolt hole. But with the aluminum block (at least I 
think it's Al) that procedure will likely ruin the block - and the 
tensioner too.

Tom