Ok, so as you know, due to my belt squeaking, I decided to not only replace it but the tensioner and idler pulley too. Normally, this wouldn't seem that tough of a job, except......
Since I could see that none of my existing wrenches were going to be able to reach either the tensioner bolt, nor the tensioner itself for removal, I decided to first get one of those serpentine belt kits that has the long wrench. Also, I realized I was going to need a T47 torx bit and I was just going to pick up one locally. Yeah right.....
The first hitch was the da** T47. Of course I don't have a set of these and of course you can't buy them single. Online is always an option, but only IF you have the extra time and I didn't. So, I visited Harbor Freight and a local hardware store. Despite everywhere I checked at HF, they didn't have one darned set with T47.... all their sets would jump from T45 to T50. The local hardware, same thing... not one with a T47. I FINALLY located a set that also had a T47. Wasn't happy to shell out $20 as I could only get a set, but better than nothing.
Next problem came with the new tensioner. It had larger bolts than the original and wouldn't you know that I didn't realize that until I already had the old one removed. As luck would have it, that torx bit set actually DID have the T50 the new tensioner needed, so didn't feel quite as bad about the $20 spent, but there was a new problem: NONE of the "crowsfeet" with the serpentine belt wrench set were large enough for the new tensioner! So, I set out on a search for a 16mm crowsfoot. NOT ONE of the stores locally had one, not even HF. All of their sets had 15mm and then skipped to 17mm. In a pinch, I used some tiny hose clamps I had to couple a 16mm standard wrench I had to the extra long bar that came with the serpentine belt set. This worked, but just barely because the hose clamp width almost prevented the wrench from reaching the tensioner bolt.
Can someone tell me why when there's a set of crowfeet, torx, or whatever that they decide to skip over certain sizes? Nothing more frustrating running into this when you need something fast. By the way, for the 16mm crowsfoot, I ended up having to get it online as I found no other choice. I was just lucky I was able to couple the existing 16mm wrench I had.
AJ