i dont think theres any way i can loosen up the tensioner without putting an impact wrench to it. they dont even make impact ratchets strong enough…
anyways, the only way i can do this is if i can tilt the engine. its about 6 inches from the crank bolt to the tensioner. is this safe? will i damage the other 2 mounts? what about the tranny? is there a safer way to do this?
Try using a breaker bar or something. Mine loosened up just using a regular 1/2" ratchet. You should be able to loosen it without tilting the engine. If you for some reason have to tilt it, I’d imagine your best bet would be to use an engine hoist and leveler and just undo all the engine mounts and drop the engine a bit (you might have to disconnect other stuff too, I dunno, never tried moving the engine that much.)
update: the motor will only go an inch or two with just the drivers side mount off, so i gotta drop the whole engine
aww man! you got a lift?