Well in my infinite wisdom I stripped the bolt on the belt tensioner not knowing it was reverse thread. The car was making an odd noise and I later found out the hearings were all munched in the tensioner pulley.

Anyways, it appears you have to take off the alternator and the pulley in front of the alternator to remove the belt tensioner. Is this correct?

Also, any recommendations on an aftermarket belt tensioner brand or an OEM replacement that won't leave me bankrupt?

 

i think i bought a gates brand tensioner

seems ok so far... only 7k miles on it

 

well my manual told me it had left threads, so I just replaced the pulleys.. the manual is really helpful, but a search here would have told you also.. you should try it sometimes

 

I bought a OEM tension off of Ebay last summer and it's been working fine. You don't have to remove the alternator to get the tensioner off. You have to remove the idler pulley to give you room to wiggle the cover off that's underneath it though. Just take a couple minutes to look at it and you'll know what I mean.

 

Yeah know that one.I did the same.....
Gates is a good brand. PS the ball bearing is easily exchanged for a new one with a bench wise. buy C3 increased play or it might be too tight otherwise after assembly.