So heres the deal i got a 97 2.2 cav with about 117,000 miles. I replaced my belt mayb like 7 months ago and i noticed a little bit of noise coming from it today soo i open the hood take a look and the belt looks like its not as tight as it should be which i think thats where the noise is coming from and also its getting a lil shredded. I noticed some shredded belt on my alternator. So what could this be? Is my tensioner bad and jus not holding the belt tight enough or what? Should i just try a new belt? If anyone has any idea where to start would be helpful. I guess after work im going to try take the belt off and look at the tensioner.
maybe the bearings on the tension pulley are getting shot, also check your other pulleys and that too and all the bolts for the alternator and all that are tight and everything is in alignment
soo my tensioner moves when i gave the belt a little pull soo this is prolly bad ? ..... getting up for work today my car was rough starting and when it did start the battery light came on and i had no power steering like no power at all in the car it died. I couldnt start it back up either it wouldnt even turn over. Tensioner and or do i have other isssues
"I noticed some shredded belt on my alternator."...
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I'm learning, myself...
What I've seen with serpentine belt failures, they'll shred and shreddings wrap around
the pully of any offending component....
If it's a failing water pump, for instance, the shredding will actually wrap around
the pully on a water pump....other components, or pulleys themselves, the shredded
belt pieces will signal where the truble is...
Another place that "sends signals" is the underside of the hood directly over the
serpentine belt....if there's a bearing going out on the alternator, for instance, there
will be black smudges underside the hood...a squeeling belt may be from grease
leaking from failing bearing....if caught early, the belt may sill be OK...
It could still be just a bad tensioner. If the belt tension is too low, and the alternator is heavily loaded trying to charge a very low battery, then the belt would slip at the alternator pully leaving the shreddings at that point - looking the same as if the alternator was too hard to turn. Also after you, pulled the belt to see the tensioner move, and now having no power steering seems to say now the belt has lost all tension.
I would say you likely need a new belt and tensioner. When the belt is removed, you can spin the alternator pulley by hand to see if you feel any roughness or stiffness. Try to move the pulley side to side and up and down to look for any bearing play. You will probably find the alt is OK. You will also need to get a charge on the battery now that it is dead. Hopefully your battery will recover. If the battery is more than 3 or 4 years old, sometimes when you fully discharge it, they are just never the same.
id charge your battery asap... or bring it inside... since you're from mass. im assuming its pretty cold and if your battery is drained itll freeze up since there's only water in it...
