Alternator Belt Tension

Very good. Thanks. It's definitely tight enough that it's not slipping on the alternator pulley. If I give it a good push, I can probably get it past .25" between pulleys, but not by much.

Thanks for all the advice.

It is the tension on the belt you should be concerned about. If it is too tight, it puts a lot of pressure on the bearings of the alternator, water pump or anything the belt goes around. Torquing the bolt down too much could also be bad in that you may strip threads.

Thanks, Pete. 1/4" is a rough estimate. I suppose I could push it further if I really lean on it, but I suspect that's not the way to take that measurement. When you say don't overtighten, do you mean not too much tension or don't overtighten the bolt on the tension bracket.

I've searched this topic in preparation for my first belt swap and don't recall seeing anything that prepared me for this.

I loosened the belt tensioner and was able to get the old belt off with not too much trouble. The original tension was about half way up the slot on the bracket (shade tree here, so please forgive my lack of correct terminology).

The new belt is the same PCM part number (66001) the old one, but would not go on until I completely removed the alternator from the tensioner bracket. When I reattached the bolt to adjust the tension, I am basically just above the bottom end of the slot. Tension feels about right (0.25"), but the adjustment position is far different than before.

Is this typical with new PCM belts. Will I have to adjust the tension over time? Anything obvious that I have missed?

Thanks.