Helllllpppp!!!!!
 

oh no I think I may have done it now....

I was changing my drive belt by myself and I think I pushed down wayyyyyy too hard on the tensioner. :( ..I mean I really leaned on it. I put all my weight on it while struggling to get the belt over the final pulley with my left hand, after some struggling it went on. But now the tensioner feels funny when I push down clockwise. Is it possible to screw this up by pushing down (clockwise) too hard??? The belt is on nice and tight and its seated properly, completely centered on each pulley. I tried pulling up with the 24mm wrench on the tensioner counterclockwise to stupidly see if the tensioner is ok.

I'm too scared to fire it up. What should I do?? Can I damage the engine? :confused:

It's just a serpentine belt, not a timing belt. If it is not properly tensioned your ac compressor, power steering might, water pump operation would be compromised. I doubt a major engine damage would occur if you just start the engine to check

DOHH!!!

ok I'm going to fire it up.

Yeah i'd start it with the engine cover off while wearing eye protection and keep an eye on the tensioner pulley so see if it gives too much when you give it some gas.

If your going to do that have a vacuum with an attachment running while you do so.
Have someone hold the attachment in the middle of the opening where the panel would be. There is going to be a bunch of dust & dirt that will shoot into the interior. This should help keep it to a minimum.

fired it up no problem quiet as can be.
Guess I was thrown off by the fact that the tensioner doesnt really rotate clockwise at all, it just pulls to the left.

drove it around the block and stoped at a 7-11. Fired it up back and sadly the elephant that is stuck in the engine is still there making his squeal. Guess its time to start shopping a new starter. I was praying the old belt was loose, failing, etc. and the cause of the squeal. But after 45K miles the old belt looked pretty good and it was very clean in that area in general.

Was the squeal coming from the idle rollers? Did you check them for play before closing everything up?

Park your car on a hill, turn the headlights on for about 15 minutes, then start it without the starter by putting the car in 3rd gear and once rolling release the clutch. See if it still squeals.

Blinkwatt:

Is that your next car. That is a gorgeous color. I think if I ever trade mine I am going for that color. Problem is I love my car too much and am unheathily (sic) attached to it.

I think I did that with an old VW once, didn't think it would work with a modern tranny.
see the thing is it only squeals on start up every 8th, 10th, 5th, etc. completely random. Happens when its cold or warm. It doesn't seem to be getting worse either which is the confusing part. I'll have to keep a log of when it squeals.
How involved is replacing the starter? Not that I would attempt this on my own...

I replaced my starter a couple of months ago because I had that squealing noise on start-up. At first the noise was every now and then. Then it got to be almost every time I started the car.
I found a used starter on eBay for $65.
Just a few fasteners to get the intake and throttle body off and the starter is right there. Much easier than I thought it was going to be. Maybe 2 hours taking your time.
Not a squeal since.

Regards,
mike

here's one starter

anyone have step by step instructions with photos? I think I can do this with my mechanic friend at his shop. I'll have to dig up that Bentley manual.