Cadillac: belt replacement, cadillac seville, belt tension

Question
I have a 1989 Cadillac seville. the serpentine belt is shot needs to be replaced. Do I need a belt tension tool and how do I go about replacing the belt? I do have a routing guide on the fan guard but don't know what gets loosened or when.

Answer
You have to realize that without actually seeing the vehicle I am relying on memory. Usually all that is needed is a wrench in order to SLIGHTLY loosen the lock bolt on the side of the belt tensioner bracket. You may have to loosen a couple until you find the right one. Once this lock bolt is loosened you should see a SQUARE opening on the tensioner bracket of which a 1/2" mechanics bar will fit into this square and a moderate amount of pulling on the bar will start moving the belt tensioner of which is internally spring loaded and as you retain pressure on the bar you will be able to slip off the old belt from beneath the tensioner.

Repeat the process to install the new belt. Just make ABSOLUTELY positive that you have a picture to guide you as to the correct routing of the new belt.


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