99 Pontiac Grand Am Tensioner/Serpentine Belt Problem?

  • Thread starter Thread starter XTGeminiman
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XTGeminiman

Here's the deal. I took my Grand Am to Meineke in early October since some of my dashboard lights and my headlights were fading in and out. I ended up getting a new alternator.

For the last week I've had a squealing noise coming from my engine compartment. Looking under the hood it's definitely the serp belt so I took it back to Meineke. They said my tensioner broke and would have to be replace.

My question is, how could the tensioner fail less than three weeks after getting a new alternator? I only put about 500-750 miles on it. Could this be a coincidence or was it negligence on the part of Meineke? Are there any tests or DIY things I can do to check the tensioner/serp belt? I've noticed my stereo lights flicker occasionally. Could the tensioner be fine and it's just too tight? The car has 108,000 miles on it.
 
a tensioner sits there untouchedch for 10 years....then someone put a wrench on it...all the salt/rust and crappy mexican metal takes a shock....it seems ok to the mechanic but the new belt it tighter than the old and it breaks...
 
They obviously did something since they touched the tensioner to change the alternator. Depends on how badly you want to make a stink- you cant prove it, but if you keep at them, talk to the manager, maybe you can work out a deal
 
I don't think they did anything wrong as the only time they had to touch the tensioner is when they took the old belt off and when they installed the new one. It's less than one minute each time, and they didn't even have to remove the tensioner to do the job, so it's definitly a coincidence.

Good luck.
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the tensioner is independent from your alternator. it's a coincidence, especailly since you're hearing this 500 miles AFTER your alternator was replaced.
your stereo lights flickering is probably a different issue. there's a possibility that it's the same issue, but it's a very slim to no chance.

you need a new tensioner. buy one and install it yourself...it's just one bolt.
 
they go bad
many shops replace when they replace belt or at least tell you it should be replace along with belt it just happens lights flickering a sign belt slipping or a bad wire somewhere Meineke kind of high end shop prices high shoul dhave replace it cant really check it an dknow if its about bad or not it either works or it dont and it dont belt slips mine cost like 30 bucks iand i replace my self pretty easy job
 
Coincidence ... sh!t happens. The tensioner either works or it doesn't.
 
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