[clickman]

I give up. I don't see any alternative now but to take off the intake to make some room to work (and to retrieve a lost bolt).

After shooting some PB Blaster on the bushing, I finally managed to knock it back about 1/8", and the alternator seems loose, but there's just no room between the idler pulley and the U-shaped shield above to rotate the idler pulley bolt up and out of its cradle.

I thought there was only one bolt holding on the shield (which Bentley blithely says to remove, without any instructions). I managed to finagle an offset socket through the cables and hoses onto it from the engine compartment, but once I had it out I managed to knock it back into some inaccessible crevice, even with my magnetic retriever. I then discovered that there's a 2nd bolt I can't seem to get a wrench on at all. Grrrr.

I sure wish I could have watched one of you successful folk actually perform this major PITA.

Damn good thing this isn't my daily driver.