Changing out air conditioner belt and tensioner GMT 900 trucks

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Something that gets neglected on General Motors GMT 900, 2007-2014 trucks is the air conditioner belt. It’s buried deep between the crank and passenger side mounted AC compressor. Mine was totally cracked up and had 210,000 miles on the original. I ordered a belt and tensioner kit from Rock Auto. You can get to it by removing the air inlet tube and top half of the fan shroud, or you can remove the plastic “ skid plate” and come in from the bottom. I already had the stuff removed from the top so I came in from above. Here are some shots of the cracked belt, the new and old tensioner, and a shot of the new Gates belt and the tensioner I installed. This is boring to any pro mechanic but might be interesting to fellow Weekend Warriors. Enjoy.

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I did this same job twice this past Summer. My mom’s Silverado lost the belt when the tensioner seized. On her 2008, the job took 20 minutes at most.

On the 2003 Avalanche my niece bought back, it took a bit more time. The 2003 had an old style steering box vs. the rack and pinion in the 2008, but the parts are the same. RockAuto supplied AC Delco Professional parts went in. Should be good for a few years more. 😁
 
Something that gets neglected on General Motors GMT 900, 2007-2014 trucks is the air conditioner belt. It’s buried deep between the crank and passenger side mounted AC compressor. Mine was totally cracked up and had 210,000 miles on the original. I ordered a belt and tensioner kit from Rock Auto. You can get to it by removing the air inlet tube and top half of the fan shroud, or you can remove the plastic “ skid plate” and come in from the bottom. I already had the stuff removed from the top so I came in from above. Here are some shots of the cracked belt, the new and old tensioner, and a shot of the new Gates belt and the tensioner I installed. This is boring to any pro mechanic but might be interesting to fellow Weekend Warriors. Enjoy.

View attachment 32941View attachment 32942View attachment 32943View attachment 32944View attachment 32945View attachment 32946

Good job, no more worries about loosing the belt.
 
I did it on my truck this summer when I did the water pump. It had obviously never been done based on all the cracking. Super easy job to do while I was in there.
 
Later on that generation GM removed the tensioner and switched to a stretch fit belt which requires a special tool to stretch the belt over the AC pulley and crank pulley. It can also be installed in earlier LS engine trucks since the compressor location hasn't changed up til the LT engine trucks.

Old tensioner and belt.
7rZzsba.jpg


New Stretch fit belt.
YiwZZkx.jpg
 
Wowza, I've never seen a belt that cracked and still holding together.

Reminds me a bit of the water pump belts on the older Ford Duratec 2.5/3.0L V6 engines. It's on the opposite side of the engine underneath the cover, so nobody ever notices them until they're stranded on the side of the road with an overheating engine.

At least with this one, you know it's there-- I'd rather have an A/C belt fall off than a water pump!
 
The tensioner on my 2001 was rattling around 80,000 miles. The belt was also cracked, but not as badly as yours! I replaced them with a Gates tensioner and the green belt during a water pump job. The green belt seemed to make a real stink for a few months after.
 
Later on that generation GM removed the tensioner and switched to a stretch fit belt which requires a special tool to stretch the belt over the AC pulley and crank pulley. It can also be installed in earlier LS engine trucks since the compressor location hasn't changed up til the LT engine trucks.

Old tensioner and belt.
7rZzsba.jpg


New Stretch fit belt.
YiwZZkx.jpg

I was going to say that - I know my 2011 has the stretch fit belt.
 
I was going to say that - I know my 2011 has the stretch fit belt.
Yep, 2011 Silverado here as well. Did my leaking oil cooler lines a few months ago. Was 3hrs into it fighting it until I read on a forum to drop the diff for more room. Did that and I was done in less than 5 mins. lol
 
I wonder if the compressors between the stretch belts and the regular belts w/tensioner are any different
 
I wonder if the compressors between the stretch belts and the regular belts w/tensioner are any different
Supposedly not but only from what I’ve read online. Everything is virtually identical except no tensioner anymore and a stretch belt.
 
Supposedly not but only from what I’ve read online. Everything is virtually identical except no tensioner anymore and a stretch belt.
Bought the appropriate Continental stretch belt from Autozone...I'm going to give it a try and see how it works for me.
 
I have an '08 Silverado 1500 that has the tensioner. Going to do away with it.
Interesting. I've never heard of anyone doing away with the tensioner but I've seen people add back in the tensioner. Let us know how it goes. :D
 
Interesting. I've never heard of anyone doing away with the tensioner but I've seen people add back in the tensioner. Let us know how it goes. :D

Here's a post where someone did it. And there's also a picture of the same thing a few posts up in this thread as well.
 
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