Had my car at the dealer today for A/C service. Functional A/C is important in Florida. While the car was there, they noticed that the serpentine belt tensioner was going bad. Looks like it's about to fall apart. I am very thankful that the tech noticed this issue - it could be disastrous if it fails. I had to decline the repair at the dealer, though. They wanted $197.00 plus tax for the repair. Full dealer list on my tensioner is $86.00. I guess that they were going to charge list plus a little more for the part and at least an hour's labor. Their labor rate is $95/hr. My tensioner (96 Lumina) is mounted on the front of the engine, and is held in place by ONE bolt. One bolt! It's a 5 minute repair. I ordered a new AC Delco tensioner off the internet for $48.49 (free shipping). I'll fix it myself.

CHECK THOSE TENSIONERS PEOPLE !

 

Well, I got my new AC Delco belt tensioner in the mail on Friday. I ordered it through Amazon.com on Wednesday. That's two day free shipping. Can't beat that. Anyway, Amazon had a Gates tensioner for $37 and an AC Delco for $48. I figured I'd spend the extra $11 and get genuine GM. When I opened the box, I found that the "AC Delco" tensioner is made by Gates. The original tensioner that I removed from the car also wore the Gates logo. Oh well, at least I didn't pay the $86.00 dealer list, and the car is on the road again.

 

Glad you got it fixed and I will keep that in mind if I ever need to repair a tensioner.

 

Most acdelco stuff is made by gates, Delphi, Carter, Bosch, and imhave a suspicion that the spark plugs are NGK but made to delco spec.