The alternator on my 2019 Chevy Silverado has been making a slight bearing noise for the last couple of months so I decided to get a new alternator and Gates stretch belt. Research enlightened me to the fact the 4.3, 5.3 and other GM engines have no tensioner pulleys…but how difficult can it be…? I couldn’t find the aluminum “special tool “ locally at 4:00 PM Wednesday so I got the belt and plastic tool at AZ and commenced to removing the necessary parts to access the alternator. Cut the old belt, removed the alternator ( after having to remove one cooling fan to get the long lower bolt out ) I thought everything was good. It goes down hill from here, as I struggled mightily to get the tool positioned and and turn the crank bolt and guide the belt on at the same time as I was born with only 2 hands! I even used a flat file to widen the gap on the tool that rests on the crank pulley edge so it would fit the groove. After finally filing enough of the tool to fit the pulley edge, the tool finally broke. As I was contemplating having the truck towed the next morning I remembered seeing a YouTube video of folks zip tying the belt to the crank pulley then turning the crank to get the belt onto the pulley. I put 5 medium sized zip ties tightly around the belt and pulley and cranked on the pulley and after several ratcheting moves the belt slid on the crank pulley perfectly! After 3 and 1/2 hours of cussin GM and it’s engineers, success!
I’m left wondering how many mistakes I might have made during this repair, and how much money I might have saved, and was it worth the frustration and skin and bruising or should I have let a dealership or local shop do it. I did the same repair on my old Chevy 5.3 which included replacing the water pump, ac belt and tensioner pulley and it only took 2 hours! I suppose GM saved a few dollars by eliminating the tensioners but the aggravation was compounded ten fold.
I’m left wondering how many mistakes I might have made during this repair, and how much money I might have saved, and was it worth the frustration and skin and bruising or should I have let a dealership or local shop do it. I did the same repair on my old Chevy 5.3 which included replacing the water pump, ac belt and tensioner pulley and it only took 2 hours! I suppose GM saved a few dollars by eliminating the tensioners but the aggravation was compounded ten fold.
