Pontiac Repair: 1997 firebird 3.8 5speed, spring tension, belt tensioner

Question
Hi,
I got caught in a huge pocket of water because is was storming last night. i immediately lost my power steering and shortly after most of the power in my car. today i noticed that the car is missing the belt. I'm not sure which belt it is but i know its the belt that wraps around the alternator. My question is, how difficult is it to change this belt? And of course, how do i change this belt.
thank you
Broke college student

Answer
Hi Michael:

That is a pretty easy belt to change. The is an emission label under the hood and some but not all of them show the "road map" of how that belt wraps around the pulley's. some of the cars have a seperate label that shows the way it goes as well. one of the pulley's is a belt tensioner when you get it all routed the correct way you just use a socket or a wrench to unload the spring tension on that tensioner and slip the belt over that pulley on the tensioner and your golden! a few of the better parts stores will even have a diagaram of how that belt it routed as well. Good luck :)