Hi,
usually people say that the steering pump can be moved to adjust the tension of the serpentine belt. In my 96 model things seem to be different (see pictures): The pump is bolted to the exhaust manifold. There's the adjusting long screw A that moves the mount B of the idler pulley C. I tried to take the belt off today and I could tension the screw more, but when unscrewing it the screw just moves out of the case instead of moving the pulley mount down. I tried tapping lightly, didn't help. Should I use raw violence?
Thanks.

 

Just loosen the idler pulley bolt(C) then you can use the adjusting screw to move it up and down.

 

Good point. I'll try that tomorrow.

 

I just did mine like 2 months ago and it took me awhile cause I couldn't remeber how to move it. Then I relised that with the pulley loose it would move.

 

There should be one more bolt behind the pump and down low that you need to back off. It can be hard to see.

 

yea, just loosen bolt "C" first and bolt "A" will raise and lower the tension pulley. There ya go.

 

Hi, that worked. Thanks! Put new belt on too. All bearings seem to be fine, almost no play and engine is running nice and quiet. I gave the idler pulley 25 lb ft, is that about right? About the tension, I can push the new belt in about 1/2 inch if i push hard.

Thing is, what was that terrible grinding and whining noise a few weeks ago then? Some debris that got into the steering fluid? or the air intake? under the valve cover? Hmm.

 

This is an old thread and I found it through the search section (n00b) I'm having the same problem and the pictures are gone. does anyone have them?

 

just kidding. i found out, thanks Autozone guide

 

Holy smokes!

I loosened the tensioner pulley and the pulley easily slides, but for the life of me, I can't loosen/backout the diagonal adjustment bolt to remove tension and slide the belt on. Am I missing something?!