I bought a remanufactured Denso alternator from Rock Auto and installed it in my 2006 Outback XT when the original alternator failed at 137k a few days ago. All went well until I torqued the tensioner lock bolt. It’s tight, can’t spin it by hand, but it spins easily with a ratchet and will not torque any tighter, just keeps spinning. The bolt head is fully seated against the tensioner block and its end is through the mounting ear of the alternator, so I suspect the thread insert in the mounting ear is spinning. I think I need to send it back – just wondering if there’s any reason this would be expected behavior for that lock bolt. The original was very tight.
