I parked the car for about 3 weeks and when I start it back up, the engine started making a crazy squealing noise. At first I though something might be wrong with the internals of the motor b/c I put on a UDP not too long ago (stories of non/improper harmonically balanced UDPs). That and the noise sounded like it ‘could’ be coming from the motor and it was really hard to identify exactly where it was coming from. Freaked me out.

To make life easier, I took it to a mechanic who said my alternator belt tensioner is bad and that this is common problem on these cars. Is that true (’98 I30 with 90K)? He quoted me $55 part and $75 labor but I am going to attempt to do it myself. I’ve never worked on drive belt components before. Is this hard to do? Do I need any ‘special tool’ or can I rent/loan it from AutoZone or something? Any idea where I can buy the part(s)?

I do have a Hayes manual but don’t have a chance to look through it yet.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

Did you try to tighten the tensioner yet and see if it is in fact bad? If you installed an UDP, you might've not tightened the tensioner correctly.

 

I suppose that is possible. I didn’t install the UDP myself and instead had a hack shop mechanic do it for cheap. I had suspicions that it may be due to improper install but then again, I drove with the UDP for a few months before the squealing started. I will give check that out this weekend before I buy the part. Any idea on what the proper torque should be?

 

It's 35-61 in/lb for the actual tension adjuster. Make sure that your idler pulley is snug down or else it will keep loosening up on you.