You relieve the tension using the 3/8" square hole..

Thanks for the reply. The problem is my serpentine belt tool is too long and i dont have the room to move the tool where i need it to. I'll look into one of the ratcheting serpentine belt tools and maybe that will work. The hole inside the rf wheel well is for access to the 15mm bolt to take the tensioner off??

Get a quote. My dealer did it for 104 and I provided the belt. Got shuttled back and forth to work. Save your skin and time for the little money.

You got robbed for a 10-15 minute job..

Just sayin...

And the "special tool" is a loaner. I paid around $9 for the belt. I wish that I could afford to throw $100 away. I am seriously thinking of opening my own "bootleg" shop, can I get a copy of the flat rate book for free?

So, I wasted a whole evening trying to get to the tensioner well. the wall of the body only gives 3/4" gap. too little for a ratchet and all the AP stores are closed so I have to go another day without my HHR! ARGHHH! need that tool. DAM why don't they make it easier?

This job is not easy without a lift, but I found removing the RF wheel and accessing the tensioner through the wheelwell to be the biggest keys. Relatively skinny arms also help!!

In the Haynes Manual it says. To remove the drivebelt, use jack stands and remove the right front wheel and lower the fenderwell splash shield. ( held by 4 fasteners but picture is very bad as where the fasteners are but I'm sure most of us could figure it out). Then insert a 3/8 in drive breaker bar or drive belt tensioner tool into the square hole in the tensioner arm. Rotate the arm counterclockwise to release the drivebelt tension, then remove the belt from the pulleys.

Then at the bottom of the page they have a picture showing the breaker bar inserted through the large oval shape hole in the splash shield. This haynes manual is far from the best IMO.

I used a belt tensioner tool that I bought cheap for Harbor Freight Tools years ago. I had to cut it to a length of about 13" to work on the HHR but it worked for me.

Methinks the designers had the hole there for a smaller engine and were too lazy to move it for the bigger one. All I know is I am still waiting to buy my alt and don't like that I will have to rent a tool that may not even work.