Well, ive been rolling in the snow.. maybe 1-1/2 foot
and I lose the main engine strap

and for the days before that, 3 or 4 times when i was in the snow, the alternator was giving less voltage and the power steering was missing

so i think the strap doesn't have enough tension?!

 

What are you talking about? Do you mean the belt tensioner? It does sound like it is going bad causing the belt to slip. Watch the tensioner while the engine is running and if it bounces around excessively then it's probably bad.

 

yes,
i mean, the tension is supposed to keep the belt from slipping

since my belt is slipping easily, i think that is probably one of my problem

ill check if the tensioner is bouncing
thank you!

 

Do you have the right belt. The length of the belt is different depending on what accessories you have and the belts do stretch over time. There should be some marks on the tensioner that the belt should ride between the side towards the released is the long mark and the other mark is towards the location the tensioner is torqued during installation.

 

Sean - what would you consider 'excessive'? Mine tends to bounce a bit too (maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch) and it's timed with the ticking sound that I've been unable to locate. Maybe this could be my issue?

Mine seems to bounce more at idle, and sometimes the voltage guage will drop a bit when slowing down toward a stop light, etc.

The more I think about it, the more I think my tensioner might be worn out too...

 

Generally tensioner/idle pulley must be replaced with the belt (correct me if i'm wrong but i guess every 60,000 miles)

 

1/2 inch of bounce is very close to excessive.

 

That's what I figured... with the engine not running, there's good tension on the belt (within chilton manual specs). With it idling, the tensioner starts to flop around. I've always wondered about that, but it never seemed to be an issue until this thread came along.