Replaced 2007 aveo5 serpentine belt and tensioner some tips I learned

Hello group, trying to get good karma, I replaced my serpentine belt and tensioner on my aveo5 stick.

I've got this odd grind/whirl sound intermittently and I am pretty sure its either the AC compressor pulley or hopefully it was the belt and tensioner. This is the part you need to know. From watching a couple of youtube videos and reading the forum there are a couple of gotchas you need to be careful of.

Tools: Jack, jack stand, long angled ratchet, you need deep socket 14mm maybe 13mm 8-10-13-16mm regular sockets 3" extension and the longer 6-8" if you take the airbox off.
1/4" to remove the hose clamp on the air intake I also had a stubby 3/8 extension but depends. You also need to remove the wheel so I had an impact driver and whatever the socket is to take the wheel off. Piece of wood to block the rear tire and something to lie on while working on the car and a bucket with soapy water to wash you hands 4-5 times.

Take pictures of the belt and the plastic parts after you take the wheel off so you don't forget like I did....

I took the airbox and air intake off to get access to the top bolt may or may not be easier from below but I am working in a condo garage and had about 2 feet of space so it was hard.

Below, I took my tire off add a jackstand so you don't die and then the two plastic wheel and engine covers 8mm and 10mm, the top bolt was 14mm and you need a deep socket and flexible head ratchet, I bought the 27.00 harbor freight long skinny one that has 1/4 and 3/8 it was pretty fantastic.

Then one guy on youtube suggested removing the pulley itself from the tensioner and in my mind this is a must. I did it as I had issues removing the bottom bolt and it was hard to see it and get my socket on it. I have a fused thumb so its even harder to do this kind of work.

It was easy to get the pulley off then I had room to see again it was really dark where I was working and it's pretty simple I think it was a 13mm and the new one was a 16mm.

From below what you'll discover quickly is once you get about 2-3 turns loose (by the way, I learned to turn slightly left until you hear the click then turn right to make sure you don't break the bolt (happened to me on other parts on this car).

Then loosen 2-3 turns then you might be able to use a your fingers to loosen but I had to put a pair of pliers on the deep socket to turn it loose. If you have big fat fingers you will cuss it's really tight. Another tip: tighten the top bolt not super tight but a bit to make it easier to loosen the bottom and remove it. Once you remove the bolts you will wonder how to get the tensioner off and with the pulley removed you have to wiggle it around then pull from the bottom at an angle and eventually (2-3 min) it pops off... Another guy said you needed to remove the AC compressor and for a while I thought so but I couldn't even see the bolts!!! and this other youtube mechanic was pretty certain anyway, his way worked for me. The new one I had to remove the pulley and with it off it was harder but I bought a car 12 volt impact driver for removing my tires and it popped the pulley off in seconds.

Once I put the first turns of the bolts back on the pulley I was fcking relieved.. then it was a simple tighten the bolts then put the pulley on make sure you see which way it goes on its pretty obvious then remember how to put the belt on as I forgot and didn't quite get it. TEST the engine before the plastic....

Then the next part that threw me off was getting the plastic back on the one piece I didn't take a picture and it took me a long while to figure it out after going back to youtube to find someone who had a nice picture.

Then its the tire and lower the car don't forget to remove the jack stand. Took me 3.5 hours but never did this before, and I didn't know some of the tricks plus it was dark as hell and uncomfortable. I think if I had a regular driveway or garage and tools listed above it would have took 1-2 hours max.

Good luck my next trick is having the airbag controller fixed I'll let you know how it goes.