I recently bought my 97 camaro, it has 78,000 miles and is an automatic. I noticed that when I rev the engine the belt tensioner doesnt move. What kind of damage could it cause if it stayed that way for a while? And is it hard to replace coming from the stand point of a person that has little car experience. Thanks a lot for your help.

 

Take the appropriate ratchet and turn the tensioner clockwise, that should move it downward -- if not, you may have a problem -- you could try lubricating it, but it is a simple replacement. Buy yourself a Chiltons or Haynes manual for your year Camaro!

 

it is simple but the little plastic elbow will break for the coolent.

 

Ok dont turn it clockwise because it wont move. You turn them counter clockwise < And it should lower. If it doesnt then try using lubricant around it. If it is frozen still and dont ove even when the car is running that means the car has sat for awhile. It just isnt gonna stop moving one day. If for somereason it is rusty which it really shouldnt be then they make this spray that lostens rust up. But it is probably a bearing in the tensioner.

 

On mine, clockwise is what lowers the tensioner on a '95 3.4 litre... I just did it today! ;-)

 

Lol i have a 95 3.8l and it is counter clockwise. Different engines different ways i guess!! =)