How to Change the Serpentine Belt on a 1996 Pontiac Grand Am GT

It's no secret that working on your own car can save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars over the life of your car. Recently I undertook the task of changing a broken serpentine belt on a 1996 Pontiac Grand Am GT.

The first thing that you will need to do is check to see what engine size your Grand Am has. This will determine what size serpentine belt you will need to purchase. Make sure that you also note how the old serpentine belt was placed on the car. The serpentine belt will be located on the passenger side of the car just to the left of the alternator.

At the parts store you will need to purchase a new serpentine belt. In addition you will need a special tool that Pontiac designed specifically for adjusting the tensioner in the 1996 Pontiac Grand Am GT. Most part stores will allow you to borrow or rent specialty tools rather than purchasing them.

Once you arrive home make sure you set aside about one hour of time to devote to this project. While changing or replacing the serpentine belt is not particularly difficult, it can be time consuming.

Open the hood of your Grand Am and begin by placing the belt over the air conditioner pulley which is the furthest wheel back, just behind the tensioner.

Next you will need to get under the car in order to place the belt on the crankshaft. You should be able to get underneath the car without the use of jacks or jack stands. However, if you must lift the car make sure to do some on a level surface with the parking brake engaged.

In order to access the crankshaft pulley you will need to move a plastic cover. You may or may not need to remove the cover. In my case I was able to pull the cover back just far enough to reach inside.

After looping the serpentine belt over the crankshaft pulley carefully get out from underneath of the car.

You will now need the special tensioner tool that you borrowed or purchased from the auto parts store. Place the tensioner tool on the nut at the end of the tensioner. With the tool securely on the nut carefully apply pressure up and toward the windshield of the car. This will cause the tensioner to slide up and back. Holding the tensioner in place loop the remaining length of belt under the tensioner and onto the alternator pulley.

Once the belt is in place double check to ensure that it is securely in place around all of the pulleys. Gently release pressure on the tensioner, moving it back into place. This will take the slack out of the new serpentine belt and provide the tension to keep it in place. Finally, remove the tool from the tensioner and check the belt to make sure there is no slack.