How do you change serpentine belt on 2002 olds alero 2.2?

Answer 1

*NOTE: I didn't, but it would be safest to remove the negative battery cable for this procedure so there is not a possibility of the car starting and ripping your arm off. If you're not going to do that, at least pull they keys. I am not a professional - the following is my personal experience:

Well, it's a bastard. Took me all of an hour and a half. I believe there's a hole in the center of the tensioner that fits a 3/8 drive. There isn't enough room to fit a socket wrench in there, and I don't have a 3/8 breaker bar, but that might fit - it is very tight. I couldn't get enough grip to do it by hand, but I was able to change it by hooking my pipe wrench underneath the tensioner arm and lifting straight up then . . . with my left arm trembing from the strain, work the belt off the alternator pulley with my right. (Help would've been nice for that step.) Cuss. Remove pipe wrench. Work the belt off the other pulleys (cussing some more because although this should be the easy part GM seemed to think that if a mouse could fit in there your hand should be able to.) Work the new belt over the main and a/c pulleys first. Take a lot of time to cuss here too as you realize you inexplicably got the belt not only over the main pulley but also over some plastic piece behind it. Fix that. Cuss. Slide the belt under the tensioner pulley. At this point you should have the belt positioned on all the pulleys except the alternator pulley. Now . . . pipe wrench time again (or the correct damn tool if you have it), and lift that tensioner arm with all your might. Then, with your last ounce of strength, slip the belt onto the alternator pulley. Breathe. Cuss. Examine each pulley to make sure the belt is in the right place and not off to the side. (In my experience it's hard to get this wrong. The lips on the edges of the pulleys are high. If you have the belt between those lips, you're probably fine.)

Reconnect the battery cable and start they car. If something sounds weird or smells like Agent Orange, turn the car off and just cuss. If it sounds ok, leave it running and go take a look at the belt hopefully running nicely around the pulleys as it should. Close hood. Shut off engine. Have beer.

Good luck.