At first we thought it was the battery, replaced it after we checked (it was no good even after sitting on a charger), then thinking it could be the alt, so I wanna take the belt off to check. One issue, the tension is insain. I’m not sure what I can do besides either try loosening the alt first then tension or just cut the belt, which doesn’t need to be changed.
Ion know man.
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Seized component that’s not allowing crankshaft to turn (bc it’s attached to the crank via drive belt) has a unique sound or characteristic when you try to start car. IF that’s what’s happening it’s most often a clutch-style AC compressor locked up. I’ve not known alternators to be able to lock up that hard. Troubleshooting this is seeing if it starts with the serpentine belt removed. Hydraulic belt tensioner, apply constant pressure and they slowly release.
I have a seized alternator on my bench that stopped a car from starting. It happens.
Please step away from the car and take it to a professional.
Rule 8 - make and model.
It’s difficult to help you much if we don’t know what we’re taking about.
But most likely, you have some sort of tensioner system. Either a spring loaded pulley. Or a manually adjusted pulley. If you don’t know how to undo the belt tension on your vehicle, I don’t think I’d recommend taking the alternator off either. I’d be worried you’d crank down those bolts too hard and snap them.
If you insist on doing this work, Watch some videos specific to your vehicle. Get a service manual. Get a torque wrench, know how to use it, and know where to find torque specs.
Theres a part called the belt tensioner in the serpentine belt system, keeps constant pressure on the belt while in motion,
Look up your make and model online, it will show you where it is and how to correctly remove the belt
if you keep tackling this project yourself and get the belt off, try spinning all of your pullies by hand. a seized pully bearing can prevent a starter from rotating your engine.
This advice is how you get people convinced their motor is seized because they can’t turn the crank pulley hard enough for a compression stroke.
OP is already suspecting the engine is seized and ready to cut the belt off and that engine shouldnt be too hard to turn over. It has not been uncommon for customers having their vehicle towed in and telling me the engine is seized and needing a new one, and it was just a frozen pump or pully.
Why do you think the engine is seizing? Because the starter doesn’t work? If so, I would focus on the starter.
If the alternator is bad but the battery is good, the car should start, or at least try.
It sounds like you should do some more diagnosis and thinking about the problem before you start cutting belts and taking the alternator off.
What are the symptoms? Hard starting? Rough idle? Engines don’t give much warning before seizing. I’d be considering that my AC compressor is about to shit the bed. Remove the belt and start the engine for a brief period. If it starts without straining, investigate the AC more thoroughly. Been there, done that.