Belts and pulleys/tensioner

[14RamHemiSport]

hey guys. my wife's 09 denali is starting to chirp a bit. it has 88k miles on it. im going to just replace the belts, idler and tensioner pulley. couple questions....im having trouble finding a write up on this procedure. a search on here didnt really find what i was hoping to find. second....i know rockauto has a nice kit that comes with everything for around $100. can i get decent stuff locally so i can do it this weekend instead of waiting for shipping from RA? i have a napa, oreilly/vip, advance auto etc by me. also have dealers if thats the best route. i can order and do it next weekend if you feel thats better than local sources. thanks guys

 

[wjburken]

hey guys. my wife's 09 denali is starting to chirp a bit. it has 88k miles on it. im going to just replace the belts, idler and tensioner pulley. couple questions....im having trouble finding a write up on this procedure. a search on here didnt really find what i was hoping to find. second....i know rockauto has a nice kit that comes with everything for around $100. can i get decent stuff locally so i can do it this weekend instead of waiting for shipping from RA? i have a napa, oreilly/vip, advance auto etc by me. also have dealers if thats the best route. i can order and do it next weekend if you feel thats better than local sources. thanks guys

Replacing the parts is fairly straight forward. You will need a 3/8” ratchet or breaker bar to take tension of the belt. Before you take the belt off, note the way that it is routed. Take a picture or two if you want. I can’t remember if there is a sticker under the hood or not.

Once the belt is off, remove the parts you want to replace and put the new ones back on.

You can get all of these items from the local auto parts store of your choice.

If you are planning on changing the a/c belt, you may need to get an installation tool because somewhere in the ‘09 time frame they switched to stretch to fit belts for that on some vehicles.

 

[Fless]

Don't these tensioners need a socket to hold off tension?

 

[wjburken]

Don't these tensioners need a socket to hold off tension?

They have a 3/8” square receiver in the tensioner for a 3/8” drive ratchet or breaker bar to release the tension.

 

[14RamHemiSport]

ok great. so its just turn ratchet to release tension, take belt off, release tensioner, replace tensioner and idler, turn ratchet to release tension and install new belt (release tensioner). i remember seeing a video of a guy commenting that the gatorback belt is better than the dayco belt. is this still true? does it really matter?

i think ill just do the serpentine belt right now with idler and tensioner. will do ac belt later. from ehat i recall, the ac stuff us done from under truck by taking off skid plate/ guard. do i have to take ac belt off to take serp belt off/on?

 

[Seamus]

Its very easy. I just bought a 2013 Suburban LTZ w/ 94K. I just did the tensioners, pulley, and the belts. The AC belt is easy but takes a little effort. There are several videos on youtube regarding. Some guys show how you can use zip ties, and others with the special tool. I bought the tool, it was only 6 bucks and I have to say it worked fantastic.

Yes the skid plate has to come off. 2 minutes and 4 bolts. No, the ac belt is behind the serp belt. But if it ever goes you do have to take the serp off to do the ac belt, so easier to do now. Gatorback is about the best belt out there. Gates sever duty fleet use is great too. Its green. Thats what I used.

I used all Gates and AC Delco parts, now its good for another 100k.

Watch the videos then tackle this. It is literally a 30 minute job if you have all your tools and parts out there. Good luck

 

[wjburken]

Agree with going with Gates and AC Delco.

 

[Doubeleive]

ok great. so its just turn ratchet to release tension, take belt off, release tensioner, replace tensioner and idler, turn ratchet to release tension and install new belt (release tensioner). i remember seeing a video of a guy commenting that the gatorback belt is better than the dayco belt. is this still true? does it really matter?

i think ill just do the serpentine belt right now with idler and tensioner. will do ac belt later. from ehat i recall, the ac stuff us done from under truck by taking off skid plate/ guard. do i have to take ac belt off to take serp belt off/on?

you will need to look at the ac belt to see if it has it's own tensioner or not, if not then you need a belt stretch tool of some form I believe there are 2 or 3 different makers & designs I bought a magnetic reversible one, getting the belt off was a piece of cake, putting it back on was a little more tricky because things are in the way but if you place it just right and use a socket to turn the harmonic balancer it's not to hard at all. Either way the main serpentine belt has to be off of the harmonic balancer to get the ac belt changed out, like Wade said take a picture or get a piece of paper and draw how the serpentine belt goes otherwise you'll be scratching your head trying to figure out the belt goes usually the tricky part is how it goes around the water pump pulley. if you are currently getting some "squeak" noise and it has the ac belt tensioner then that is usually the primary suspect for the noise.

 

[OR VietVet]

An initial chirp noise is not a sign of coming failure so I would get the AC Delco tensioners and idlers and wait for shipping. I did it all when I did my water pump and thermostat. I have used the Gatorback belts and had no problems and have seen many threads about how they are the superior belt to get but I just got the AC Delco belts and all went great on reassembly. This is the very first time I have heard of a self tensioning belt. IMO, that is some crazy stuff. Old hat to some of you though.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

I agree with the above recommendations.

Determine which parts (belts and tensioners) you want to replace. If you are going to replace the serpentine belt, I also recommend that you replace the AC belt and its tensioner, as well, since you will already have the serpentine belt off. I recently replaced my AC tensionser, as it failed, and while doing so, I replaced both belts, as well. It took me about 2 hours to complete the job, and it was easy peasy. In retrospect, I should have considered replacing the serpentine belt tensioner, as well, while I had the serpentine belt off.

Then contact your GM dealer and give them the last 8 digits of your truck's VIN number, and ask them for the specific part numbers and prices of those parts that you are going to replace. Now, you have the correct part numbers for your specific truck, along with a benchmark price for each part that you want to replace (it will most likely be the highest price that you will see in your search for replacement parts).

Then, you can look at both local parts stores and online parts sellers, such as Rock Auto, and confirm before purchasing, by cross-referencing those parts with the correct part numbers given to you by the GM dealer, to ensure that you have the correct parts the first time. For me, Rock Auto had all of the parts that I needed, and at a price that I was willing to wait for a week to receive.

I wish you the best of outcomes on your project!

 

[14RamHemiSport]

Oh wow! thanks or all that help guys. Yeah the more i looked into this and watched whatever videos i could, it looks very straight forward. I have yet to give a real good look at everything. From what i remember, i believe the serpentine tensioner had some movement to it. I checked out Rock Auto (Gates = AC Delco correct?) and i can buy a kit that comes with the serp tensioner, the serp belt (HD belt), idler pulley, the stretch fit ac belt and tool for just under $100. Being that the 09 denali uses the stretch fit belt, that would suggest there is not tensioner correct? There is only the ac compressor and the crankshaft pulley. Are either of these needing to be replaced?

I watched a video showing that tool work. Super simple. Im sure you could make that work with some sort of object, but for $6.50 its worth buying. Again, thanks for all the input guys. Greatly appreciate it all.

 

[14RamHemiSport]

An initial chirp noise is not a sign of coming failure so I would get the AC Delco tensioners and idlers and wait for shipping. I did it all when I did my water pump and thermostat. I have used the Gatorback belts and had no problems and have seen many threads about how they are the superior belt to get but I just got the AC Delco belts and all went great on reassembly. This is the very first time I have heard of a self tensioning belt. IMO, that is some crazy stuff. Old hat to some of you though.

I understand these things (like any other brand) can make noise for a while. I just like to stay ahead. I dont want my wife to get stranded with the kids. So if i can get something done i want to. Also, i dont have a garage and temps are dropping here in Maine. So any free time i can get i need to use it. How did you know to replace your water pump? or did you just do it while in there?

 

[OR VietVet]

The water pump was leaking coolant out of the weep hole. The serp belt had to come off for access and after buying it I did not know the age of everything and did see some small cracks starting on the ribs of the belt. I had known about the belt noise and tensioner/idler replacement stories so that was the perfect time to do it. No extra labor except for the a/c belt parts. I feel really fortunate that my 2002 with 159k on it has no leaks, anywhere. I probably just jinxed myself saying that.

 

[thompsoj22]

Somthing i was unaware of is that AC DELCO tensioner's have a built in damping mechanism to minimize the torque effect on the AC compressor as it cycles on and off "violently" , it is also incorporated into the alt tensioner. Just a thought, dont buy the super cheap "CHINA" look alikes that dont have the damper. I never understood why american autos didnt incorporate the european compressor that is "allways on" it runs at like 2 or 3 percent effectiveness when off to keep the system lubricated, they use no clutch so there is no noticeable on/off "clutching" while in use, simply some sort of valving that changes as directed by the thermostat control.

 

[14RamHemiSport]

Somthing i was unaware of is that AC DELCO tensioner's have a built in damping mechanism to minimize the torque effect on the AC compressor as it cycles on and off "violently" , it is also incorporated into the alt tensioner. Just a thought, dont buy the super cheap "CHINA" look alikes that dont have the damper. I never understood why american autos didnt incorporate the european compressor that is "allways on" it runs at like 2 or 3 percent effectiveness when off to keep the system lubricated, they use no clutch so there is no noticeable on/off while in use, simply some sort of valving that changes as directed by the thermostat control.

thats kind of why i started this thread. I really wanted to do this this weekend but i was not sure of quality of local parts. i guess i should know since i would never put advance/oreilly (Chinese) etc parts on my truck. isnt Ac Delco rebranded gates stuff? So gates tensioners are high quality? Rock auto has gates stuff, no ac delco listed for this stuff. They have dayco as well, but from what i gather gates is better quality.

 

[OR VietVet]

thats kind of why i started this thread. I really wanted to do this this weekend but i was not sure of quality of local parts. i guess i should know since i would never put advance/oreilly (Chinese) etc parts on my truck. isnt Ac Delco rebranded gates stuff? So gates tensioners are high quality? Rock auto has gates stuff, no ac delco listed for this stuff. They have dayco as well, but from what i gather gates is better quality.

Ok, unless I missed it somewhere in this thread I did not see where you gave us an engine size. I do see AC Delco parts available at Rock Auto for a 5.3 but not for a 6.2 engine. Is that the engine you have or is it just that all Denali's have a 6.2? The Gates quality is great as well.

Ok, since I don't have a GMC I did not know that the Denali engine is a 6.2, just looked it up. You get old, like me, you start assuming, but in the future please humor me and give me an engine size.

 

[thompsoj22]

thats kind of why i started this thread. I really wanted to do this this weekend but i was not sure of quality of local parts. i guess i should know since i would never put advance/oreilly (Chinese) etc parts on my truck. isnt Ac Delco rebranded gates stuff? So gates tensioners are high quality? Rock auto has gates stuff, no ac delco listed for this stuff. They have dayco as well, but from what i gather gates is better quality.

ACDELCO 38159 {#88996998} Professional Info
Air Conditioning

ACDELCO 38158 {#88929140} Professional Info

Main Drive

It is there, If you youtube the tensioner pulleys for acdelco they have a patent on the spring and damper. Im sure that gates is comparable?