'96 Bonneville SE Belt Tensioner

Hey all. I was just trying to replace the serpentine belt on my '96 Bonneville's 3800 II (non-supercharged version) and it would seem as though the bolt in the tensioner has stripped the hole it screws into. The bolt I am talking about is the one that holds the pulley on to the tensioner itself. If you turn it with a ratchet, it keeps turning, which not only makes me think that it will eventually fall off, but it also makes it so you can not use the tensioner to replace the belt, (all of the info I can find on replacing the belt on this car (as well as previous experience on older cars) says that you just slap a ratchet or wrench on this bolt on the tensioner and push down, and the tensioner moves to allow you to put the belt on. Now, if I pry the tensioner with a screwdriver or other long object, I can get the tensioner to move, but I will either need to replace it or get the hole re-drilled or what not, but both options requires me to take the tensioner itself off the car.

Just so you know, the main reason that I am changing the belt is that for one, the car has over 269,000 KM's on it, so I do not know when the last time it was done, for seconds the belt is starting to crack a bit, and for thirds the power steering does not work very well at times when I am parking, or just turning the wheel side to side in Park. At high speeds it is 97% ok and it also is fine while the car is revving high, as in, if I am at a dead stop and give it some gas while in Neutral, the steering works fine. I heard that the Bonneville's of '95 and higher have some kind of power steering assist feature, but everyone I had look at the car suggested that the cheapest first try would be to replace the belt. I have also check power steering fluid and it is fine (though a HUGE pain in the butt to get too!!).

So, the question is, can anyone here give me details or a website on replacing the tensioner?

Sorry to yap on so much, but I like to give as much information as possible. And thanks for any help anyone can give me!!

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80 Knight
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