accesory belt tension

[fred79]

I know what the numbers are but I can find a gauge to do teh measuring.
I talked to my guy at advance auto and a local guy and they can't even order me one.
does any one here actually use one and how tight does the wp/ps belt feel after you tightend it. I just changed my belts and now when i blip the throttle when the engine returns to idle it bogs way down lighting the oil light and then recovers to idle so I am pretty sure I made it to tight. I left about 1/8 of a inch of give in the belt on the top span. and on the alt/ac belt i gave it 1/4 inch on the front span/bottom span. any help would be apppreciated.

 

[shoebilly]

You simply tighten them "tight enough" but not too tight. How much effort does it take to push on the belt in its longest spot? There needs to be some flex. The book may have a proper TQ spec for this. I could look it up. I'm not going to. Just think about the bearings in the alternator, AC, PS & coolant pump. If the belts too tight you risk damaging these accessories. If they are'nt tight enough the belts will squeal. The PS is more likely to sqeal if its not tight enough than the other.

 

[laxmax327]

yea i dont think anyone really does this the correct way. just tighten em till they get nice and snug and stop. thats what i did and its worked fine for me.