How do you change the serpentine belt on a 1997 Pontiac Sunfire?

Answer 1

Located at the right side (passenger side) of engine compartment......With a large handle ratchet, place on the center bolt of tension pully (look at schematic for location) turn away from belt (left or right depending on size and type of engine) while someone else grabs the loose belt and takes it off every pully and then follow the belt schematic to put new belt on while holding the tension pully the same way when you take the belt off......... do not spin any pully when doing this to avoid damage depending on engine type.......make sure person holding ratchet is strong enough to hold the ratchet for a good bit (may take a while to get at the belt)...... and do not put fingers close to pully where the belt rests...... may slip and clamp on fingers (this will hurt alot... found out the hard way)......... good luck Andrew, a Canadian auto apprentice!

Let me clarify this post.

Turn the bolt in the middle clock-wise (tightning). As you tighten the bolt, it will give and release tension on that pulley and allow you to remove the belt easily.

After reading the above post, I tried loosing the bolt and had a nightmare replacing the belt, but eventually got it. As I put everything back together, this last bolt I noticed when I tightened it all the way down, it applied pressure to the pulley and released tension. (I know it sounds stupid, but when you do it, you will see how it works).