Originally Posted by
wksracing
Does the tensioner have to come all the way off or can I just loosen it a bit to get the valve cover off? Should I drain off a bit of the coolant or at least empty the block?
Thanks for the previous reply Heavy Chevy.
If you loosen it to get clearance the coolant elbows will begin to pull out and you'll lose coolant anyway. Might as well just pull it off. Even if you use the drain petcock on the radiator to drain the coolant you're not going to get the coolant out of the lower intake. Just throw a pan under the car, take the tensioner assembly off and let the coolant drain out and under the car.
You don't have to make two threads.
Originally Posted by
wksracing
Does anyone have a suggestion as to how one may go about draining off a certain amount of coolant in a Chevy 3800 engine, so as to facilitate the removal of the drive belt tensioner.
The car CANNOT be started nor can it be moved. The coolant must be drained (partially/fully) in order to remove the tensioner. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.