Cost to swap out tensioner pully

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Originally Posted by f5fstop

Depends on what engine and what year vehicle. However, from your description of the coolant hoses, I'll assume the old style with the 3.8L (L36/L67). Not sure if GM sells just the pulley, without the entire tensioner assembly.
Easy to diagnose with a long screwdriver to listen to the pulley while the engine runs.

My wife is a doctor, so I used her stethoscope to locate the bad pulley .

On one of those engines mentioned above, the generator has to be removed.

You're right on the engine, 3.8 vin K on a '98. You have to drain coolant and remove the generator.

As for one-hour time. I know of no dealers who charge anything less than one-hour to perform any job. In fact, a lot of aftermarket shops charge a minimum of one-hour to do any job (unless it is an advertised job like tire rotation, oil change, etc.)
Even furnace repair charge a minimum of one-hour.

I do understand this, but when I question the labor estimate, he hemed and hawed about how "it was a little more involved..." Had he just said, we can't afford to run a shop and charge less than 1 hour labor, I'd have respected the answer and maybe even said do it then.