There must be a secret that I am missing. I have a new alternator and serpentine belt ready to go and like some others have found the alternator on my MPV to be really tough to access. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions? Everything is so packed in I am even having trouble seeing just how one would lessen th tension to even remove the serpentine belt! I sure would appreciate any helpful suggestions. My car failed to start one morning and my wife claimed that she had been smelling an acrid burning smell from underr the hood the past few days (her car....). I drove it around and smelled the smell too...seemed to be on the side of the engine where the alternator is. The next day the car would not start. I bought a new battery and it was all systems go again.....but I had some concerns about that smell and had a guy put a meter on my battery to see whether it was charging...it read 12.5volts....so I am not sure if he was just getting the battery...or if I should be seeing more if the alternator was working properly. I have no idiot lights indicating low charge...but I do not trust that either....I just figured I would change the alternator and belt for good measure...now I am wondering how to get at it!

Thanks in advance for nay help!