Need Help with Tensioner

[spederman]

I'm amazingly close to beating my car to death with a bat and need help bad. I just swapped out my alternator and now cant get the tensioner wound up enuf to slip the belt over the alternator pulley. I cant get a 3/8 rachet in there to use the slot in the tensioner because the vortech bracket is in the way. Plus all the intercooler piping doesnt help matters taking up what little space is in there. I tried using a plier/wrench style oil filter tool to grab the tensioner and turn it. I can get it almost, but not quite far enuf. I tried for an hour and couldnt get it. I tried using a tire iron/crow bar end and dont know where to stick it to get enuf leverage to get it to wind up. Anybody have any other ideas they use, I really need my car back on the road. Thanks

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

a wrench wont fit at all? Maybe you can clip it on, put a piece of wood in between the wrench and a jack, and jack up the wood to push the wrench from the left clockwise then leave it tensioned and then try. Also to to put the belt on as a last step on different pulleys. The Alternator pulley has tall side walls try the lower one on the right last. Although this might not make sense since im used to a 96-98

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

I wish I could help. My Vortec belt ony my 4V was a bioootch to change. My belt tensioner had a 13mm or 15mm nut on the pulley, and that is what I adjusted it with. I also have a forged steel tensioner, not the stock aluminum one.

 

[showstopper2]

put the 3/8 socket in the tensioner slot and use a floor jack handle over the handle for the added leverage. I do this to bring the tensioner to full loose to put my blower belt on with ease by myself.

 

[Wolvrin704]

I've not had to do the mustang yet but I did my F150 a couple of times and it was always a big pain. The last time I went and bought one of those universal belt tensioner tools and it really helped because it gave me the needed leverage to get the belt over the alternator.

 

[BobHyatt]

Sears has the best tensioner tool around, based on a gearwrench + an extension (cheater). But without that, what about a good 3/8" socket handle, with a short extension to get into the square hole (I thought this was a 1/2" square hole myself, it is on the ones I have worked on).

Also you might try putting the belt on everything but the tensioner, or the water pump, and doing one of those last, since they have no ribs or lips to get the belt over since it runs over them backward..