Alternator belt

[newprot5fan]

I have a pretty basic question. How do you know when a belt is the right tension or when it is too tight. My alternator belt was squealling so I tightened it, but I have no idea how tight it is supposed to be. There is definitely less play in it now, but after driving around, it smelled like it might be burning....Is that normal for a while after a belt adjustment or not?


I guess another part of this question is could the noise be the tensioner? The noise is more of a chirp that is sporatic...that gets louder and faster when I give it gas. Since I just tightened the alternator belt because I assumed it was the belt, is there danger of damaging the tensioner more if it is the tensioner?

Thanks!

 

[aMaff]

you want about 1/8" of deflection in the belt. Using 2 straight edges is the easiest way to check.

 

[P-Funk!]

Tight enough to not squeal (turn on the a/c to load it (trust me - it affects it!) but not much tighter).

 

[buttthrax]

What I did was look for the part on the tensioner bolt with the least corrosion (indicating its previous position) and put it there. This isn't the greatest method (because the new belt will be of slightly different size) but I was sick to damn death of hearing it squeak and it worked.

 

[Brian48216]

Yea, I'm having the same issue too.
Both my alternator belt and water pump belt broke while I was driving and I had to get them replaced. It squeals once the engine dips below 1000 rpm and goes away once it goes over 2000. I took it to a shop to have it tightened but now it's back again. Does it take a day or two for the belt to break in or does it need to be tightened some more?

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Yes

 

[blueprotegelx]

Both my alternator belt and water pump belt broke

their the same belt...but i also replaced both of mine yesterday as well as alternator. there was a slight squeal when i started the car up and then everything was fine.

 

[newprot5fan]

So this is a dumb question, but aren't there only two belts on our P5? The alternator being one (and I think that is the one making my noise I think) and the big one next to it?

If I have already tightened the alternator belt once to stop it and now about 10000km later it is squealing again, should I tighten it more or just get a new belt? Problem is that I live in a place that has no mazda dealership to get a belt?

 

[aMaff]

3 belts. Timing belt, the Water Pump / Alt (iirc) and the Power Steering / Air Conditioner (again, iirc)

 

[Purrfectangel]

go to napa and buy one. Just tell them the make of your car, year and size engine.

 

[Purrfectangel]

How many kms on your car? If your over 100 cliques I'd say replace it along with the other belts but if you've only got about 80 or so I'd say no. Just inspect it. If it's got little tiny cracks on the rubber grooves on the underside of the belt or it's frayed then replace. You don't need a mazda dealership for anything. Nothing is under warranty. Why pay the extra cost? Unless it's a manufactureur specific part which these belts are not you don't need to buy anything there.

 

[newprot5fan]

How many kms on your car? If your over 100 cliques I'd say replace it along with the other belts but if you've only got about 80 or so I'd say no. Just inspect it. If it's got little tiny cracks on the rubber grooves on the underside of the belt or it's frayed then replace. You don't need a mazda dealership for anything. Nothing is under warranty. Why pay the extra cost? Unless it's a manufactureur specific part which these belts are not you don't need to buy anything there.

You're right on not needing the mazda dealership...I was just remembering that a number of people have mentioned that when replacing belts that it alwyas seems that non mazda belts don't last very long and that they have to replace them anyway with mazda belts in a few months after installing the non mazda ones....

I only have 80,000km on the car and haven't replaced any of the belts. I bought the car with 54,000 km on it. I just drove across Canada and after that the belt started squealing, but I do see notched out of the underside of the belt though, so I probably do need to replace the alternator belt (which was actually changed about a year ago - a non mazda belt)....

 

[Stou]

Is there any "How To" somewhere that explain how to change and adjust the belts?

It's kind of tight at this place and can't really see where are located adjustment bolts.

 

[slavrenz]

+1 on the how-to. I can't seem to get my hands & a ratchet positioned on the top alternator bolt or the bottom P/S bolt for the life of me when I wanted to tighten my belts. Is there a reommended list of things that should be removed first. It looks like if I remove the pass. side engine mount i might have better clearance for the alternator bolt, but this is more than i wanted to do

 

[slavrenz]

bump - sorry, just wanted to get my post count to 100 (pow)

 

[dfphoto]

Belt replacement

I recently replaced my belts I heard some squealing and found one of the belts was almost in pieces if I would have driven one more day it would have been AAA help....

Anyway, I had to jack my car up and in my case I had to use an extension on my 3/8" socket if I had a deep socket kit (I just bought one) it would have mad my life easier to get to most of the bolts you go in from the top (meaning under the hood) but the last bolt by the alternator is strictly under the car meaning by the front doors.... so jack that car up and be careful with the jack stands.... took me 1 hour as the bolts were really tight and it scared me to pull so hard to loosen... in the end I had to re-tighten the next day of course it was the alternator bolt from under the car but it's been 3 months and no worries.