When putting the tensioner back on a 90 gxe, does it actually need to be spun around twice (approximately) in order to get tension on the spring?? Haynes is a little unclear on this.

Btw, did anyone else find the picture of the guy "working" the crankshaft pulley off with a screwdriver to be a humourously rediculous understatement?

 

Um, not even clear on exactly what you need, but on the
tensioner I just replaced on my '93 GXE, I had to reuse the
old spring (the old tensioner had a slot cut in it where
one end of the spring nested and the new one just had a
hole drilled in it where the end of the spring had to be fed
into. When you put it back in position, don't push it on
all the way, but make sure the other end of the spring is
making contact with the stud that sits nest to the tensioner
and see if you can turn it to get some tension on it. I
don't think it is possible to turn it twice 'round as you
are somewhat limited in the amount of travel you have. It
may not even go once completely around; I think if you
install it and futz with it a little, you will see that you
are limited in how much you can actually tighten it and the
spring does not provide a huge amount of resistance.

I think you should just put it on and play with it a little
because there is not much variation in how it can be
adjusted. The spring provides just enough tension to move
the tensioner clockwise (loosening the belt)...

Sorry if my answer is a bit vague, but this did not really
become an issue when I replaced mine because there is not
a lot of adjustment you can really do and so hard (if not
impossible) to screw up. I'll check the FSM tonight and
see if there was something there that I missed...

The only thing I remember that said anything about needing
to be turned twice was after you get everything in place,
you are supposed to turn the crank two complete revolutions
which is (I guess) so that you can make sure your timing
marks will all still line up and your belt is tensioned
properly so as to keep the belt from slipping.

"Turn tensioner 70 to 80 degrees clockwise with hexagon
wrench and temporarily tighten lock nut.

Turn crankshaft clockwise as least 2 times, then slowly set
No. 1 pistion at TDC on its compression stroke."