I recently replaced the main belt on my car but the tensioner is now pulled even more---a tick mark more to towards the driver's side. The belt is a gatorback 4060790 and was the right belt for this car but was much harder to put on since I had to pull that pulley pretty hard to get it to fit. My question is what are the correct specs for the amount of tension on the main belt? Don't want the belt to snap in a day or whatever! Here is a sample image of what i mean:



(with the Gatorback 4060790 it is on the third meaning it has a much tighter fit)

thanks guys for all the help so far!

 

From the diagram in my Chiltons, the indicator pointer can be anywhere in the range indicated by the groove from mark 2 to mark 3 side of the center line. If there is enough slack that the indicator points to the left of the centerline (mark 2 to mark 1), there is too much slack in the belt.

 

As the belt warms up, it will slightly stretch. Check it after a couple days of driving. It should be fine.

 

It is stretching, I'll continue checking it day by day. Since then I'm noticing squeaking (again!!! check my other thread) but very very minimal. It goes away after a few minutes. Hopefully once the stretching stops it doesn't get worse. I'll keep posting..

 

Might need to replace the pulley. I did the "chase the squeak" deal on my old 4th gen. I wound up replacing tensioner pullies, idler pullies, belts. My biggest issue was the tensioner pulley for the AC compressor. It had gotten dirt & rust in it.

Go buy all new pulleys. If you still have a squeak, it may be the water pump.

 

a squeak can also be caused by the tensioner wearing out. Though that is usually pretty easy to notice. The pulley starts getting an angle to it and the belt starts to run off the pulley.

 

well, it's getting worse each day I drive this thing. Aaarrgh---talk about annoying. Also the tensioner arm is now on mark 2 3/4 (the belt must have stretched since I last put it). It's nowhere as bad as the Dayco belt, but it is starting to come back and I swear I"m gonna freak out if this continues. I've spun every pulley and I don't hear any squeaks OR grinding. Here is what I've experienced with this problem since I bought the car:

1. Bought it. Squeaky as hell. Changed the belt to a Dayco. Squeaks GONE.
2. Alternator was bad. Changed it. Squeaky!!
3. Returned the Dayco belt, got a Gatorback. Squeaks gone!
4. Now 4-5 days later, squeaks are coming back!! Today it's up to a chirp chirp chirp, faster chirps during acceleration!

The alignment of the alternator is straight, but maybe it's slightly off?? How do I check for alignment of this---or any other pulley for that matter? Is the alt pulley bad even if it doesn't make noise when hand-turned? How do I know if the tensioner is bad? Aaaarghhh!!