If you are talking about a caravan or voyager, it is only hard because the access is poor to the nut.The automatic tensioner is held on by a nut. You have to jack up the car crawl underneath and reach up between the alternator mount and the rear exhaust manifold . The access to the nut is finger tip small. You will need a 14mm 6 point socket , a short extension, a long extension, a short breaker bar,a socket wrench, and a pivot joint for the extensions. Getting the nut onto the new tensioner is the hard part. Finger tight the nut and double check that the tensioner is positioned correctly in the mounting slot. Then tighten down the nut and put the belt back on. You should be able to move your belt tensioner by putting a wrench in the pulley bolt and levering the pulley toward the front bumper. You may have to place a piece of pipe over the wrench to get more leverage. If the tensioner will not move easily (like it is stuck in place). Replace the tensioner with one that is not frozen. I purchased a good used tensioner at a salvage yard for $10. All my belt squealing went away. Route the belt around the pulleys leaving the belt between the tension pulley and the engine. A shoe string or piece of wire around the belt will allow you to pull the belt up on to the tensioner pulley while you pull on the wrench holding the tensioner down with your other hand. If you take the old belt with you to the auto store , you can compare the belts to make sure you get the right belt. Also if you do not have a routing diagram for your vehicle , draw one before you remove the old belt. It is not hard to figure out the routing by looking at the pulleys, it is just easier with a diagram. Hope this helps. If you do not have a self adjusting tensioner on your mini van, please relist the question letting us know what year, model, and engine.
Answers & Comments
If you are talking about a caravan or voyager, it is only hard because the access is poor to the nut.The automatic tensioner is held on by a nut. You have to jack up the car crawl underneath and reach up between the alternator mount and the rear exhaust manifold . The access to the nut is finger tip small. You will need a 14mm 6 point socket , a short extension, a long extension, a short breaker bar,a socket wrench, and a pivot joint for the extensions. Getting the nut onto the new tensioner is the hard part. Finger tight the nut and double check that the tensioner is positioned correctly in the mounting slot. Then tighten down the nut and put the belt back on.
You should be able to move your belt tensioner by putting a wrench in the pulley bolt and levering the pulley toward the front bumper. You may have to place a piece of pipe over the wrench to get more leverage. If the tensioner will not move easily (like it is stuck in place). Replace the tensioner with one that is not frozen. I purchased a good used tensioner at a salvage yard for $10. All my belt squealing went away. Route the belt around the pulleys leaving the belt between the tension pulley and the engine. A shoe string or piece of wire around the belt will allow you to pull the belt up on to the tensioner pulley while you pull on the wrench holding the tensioner down with your other hand.
If you take the old belt with you to the auto store , you can compare the belts to make sure you get the right belt. Also if you do not have a routing diagram for your vehicle , draw one before you remove the old belt. It is not hard to figure out the routing by looking at the pulleys, it is just easier with a diagram.
Hope this helps. If you do not have a self adjusting tensioner on your mini van, please relist the question letting us know what year, model, and engine.