How do you replace a serpentine belt tensioner on a 1995 Plymouth Voyager?

Answer 1

Peter, I don't know exactly for a 1995 Voyager but I recently changed the tensioner on my 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan so they should be similar. You will need to get underneath the vehicle, preferably over a pit or have it jacked up nice and high. There is a bolt through the back of the unit that you access from underneath. Once you find the bolt and remove it the tensioner comes right off and the installation is just the reverse. It took me awhile to figure out how to do it but once I found the bolt it was very easy. .

Ron

I just changed the tensioner on a 1994 voyager with the 3.3 V6

undo the alternator retaining bolts and move the alternator out of the way

the exposes the tensioner and you can get a 15mm open end wrench on it.

you work mostly by feel

but it is a relatively easy thing to do with the alternator out of the way; darn hard to do with the alternator in place

I forgot to mention, when taking moving the alternator, you should disconnect the wires at the alternator(after disconnecting the battery of course) after you remove the bolts holding the alternator in place; you can move the alternator around to access the conections went the bolts are out. In this way you can get the alternator out of the way so you can work on the tensioner without taking the alternator right out of the car

Here's what I did.

I hate working under cars so I do it the hard way. Some tools you'll need will be a pipe that fits over the box end of a 15mm wrench, a 3/8 wratchet with a 13mm,15mm, and 10mm socket.

Use the 15mm wrench with the pipe added on it and put it on the nut that holds the pulley to the tensioner. Pull the tesioner towards you and use your other hand to take the belt off the most convient pulley. Take your 10mm socket and remove the bolts holding the coil pack onto the front end of your intake manifold, then remove the top spark plugs with the plug wire gromet and put the wires on top of the intake to keep them out of the way.

Next, dissconect the little hose at the joint right in the middle that goes to your windshield wiper sprayer and lay it out of the way. Also dissconect the drain tube and put it out of the way. Now take your 15mm socket and remove the bolt on top of the intake manifold that holds the alternator brakcet. Change to the 13mm socket and remove the two bolts that hold the top bracket to the bracket that the alternator is attache to. Use the 15mm to remove the alternator top bolt. Remove bracket. Now loosen the three 15mm bolts that attach to the front of the engine that secure the side alternator bracket. The bracket wont be loose until you have loosened the belt tensioner nut so be patient. Remove the bottom alternator bolt. You will need a socket and a wrench to get the nut off so the bolt will come out. Do yourself a favor and force the exhuast heat shield down with the box end of the wrench so the nut wont drop onto the back of the tranny, never again to be found. Put a pry bar in between the tensioner and the botom of the alternator and lift the alternator up far enough to get it free of the brackets, while shaking the top backwards and forwards. Once the alternator is loose lay it over and disconect the wire clip in the back, then use your 10mm socket to disconect the other alternator wire. Push the alternator out of the way a tad and shine a flashlight onto the back of the tensioner. get your 15mm wrench out and do what you can to loosen it enough to get slack on the alternator bracket.

Now pull the alternator out of the engine compartment and set it down. On the back of the alternator bracket is a pipe brace with another 15mm bolt that I removed, then pushed the pipe down out of my way so I could get my big hands and thick fingers into get at the tensioner nut. Now loosen the tensioner nut and pay special attention to not dropping the nut!!! Run some fine sand paper over the surface of the belt tensioner bracket to make sure it seats flush and install the new tensioner. Since the side alternator bracket is loose you will have to move it around to get the new tensioner bolt to go all the way through. Install the nut. The rest is pretty much the reverse of above

To put the belt back on, make sure the belt is on all of the pulleys except the idler, that is the one in the middle on the top. Go ahead and run it on the tensioner otherwise you cant get it over the wrench. Put your pipe on the wrench and pull it toward you and push down on the belt until it is under the idler. Get your flashlight and check to make sure the belt is on all the pulleys the right way. Go have a beer you earned it for having to work on a front driver cry-slur.

Which engine are we talking about?

In the '94 3.3/3.8L I just did, it was like Ron said above. There was a single bolt which attaches from the INSIDE, not the front. You need to get way under the car to access it. Once you get there, it comes of quite easily. You still need to relieve the tension on the belt 1st.

GL

DNO