Serpentine belt tensioner- repair price?

[knightofni]

Hi, all.
I typically DIY a lot of things on my truck (‘04 LC, 215k mi), but work’s been a tad... insane of late, and I let the dealer swap the tensioner, since it started making some excess noise last week. It was primarily in to do the recall on the side curtain airbag ECU.
How much labor is actually involved in swapping the tensioner? Does anyone have a copy of the Motor labor guide info, or know what the approximate labor time would be? $511 seems like a fair bit of labor for this repair- and I already knew the part wasn’t going to be a good deal.

SF Bay Area, since that’s relevant for labor prices.

 

[BEG]

Take a look at the following videos from @2001LC (IIRC) and you can decide if $500+ is worth it. Note that the dealer just swapped the pulley, which is even less work:

 

[BEG]

Install:

 

[2001LC]

I'll add, for $500 the Dealership likely replaced the tensioner assembly, not just pulley. The spring within does get weak over time, which leads to belt slippage. We see them last longer outside of the rust belt. But in areas of high heat and humidity (rust belt) not uncommon to go bad 8 to 14 year around 150 to 200K mile.

If so they'll likely have 1 gallon of coolant SLL ~$25, tensioner ~$100, belt $35, shop fees $-- and $300 labor. (all prices are just approximate)

 

[gatormark91]

$500 is fair for a dealer. Have to remove the intake air box, passenger cam gear cover, loosen PS pump, slide the alt off its mount, replace tensioner, and reinstall. Couple little other bits there, too. Have them replace the idler pulley while it is all off, you probably need it.

Serpentine belt tensioner does not require draining any coolant.

 

[AllLC]

i paid just under 600 non dealer about 2 years ago on my 99.

 

[2001LC]

$500 is fair for a dealer. Have to remove the intake air box, passenger cam gear cover, loosen PS pump, slide the alt off its mount, replace tensioner, and reinstall. Couple little other bits there, too. Have them replace the idler pulley while it is all off, you probably need it.

Serpentine belt tensioner does not require draining any coolant.

Not necessary, but removing top of the lower rad hose makes access easier to area of tensioner. Which would require draining radiator of some fluid.