belt touching tensioner?

[mastershake]

well i took the car into a shop to have them put on the parts i ordered... first of all they did an alignment and it was WORSE than when it went in (steering wheel is off and it pulls to the right) so i took it back for them to fix it and they didn't make much of a difference...

so because of this i went and checked the other work they did to make sure they didn't screw that up. well, good thing. the gatorback belt i had them put on is touching the tensioner a small amount now, only when the car is off. when it's on, it isn't touching but there is a very small gap between them... but i'm still worried. is this ok or should i loosen the belt?

http://i.imgur.com/u3xSA.jpg

[sleepyalero]

i would take your car to a GM dealer for a true alignment. IMO.

never owned a gatorback belt, probably never will. to me a belt is a belt. weather its gatorback or one from napa. ive heard people have some problems with the gatorback belts but not much. its not a good sign its hitting there, but maybe someone with a gator belt can have more insight on this then me.

[cavaliers60]

Maybe not enough give for the tensioner to put tension on the belt? Or it could be that your tensioner is just worn out and needs to be replaced...

[billytheman1188]

I agree with cav here....prob the tensioner. Check it out.

[MMGT1]

pull the tensioner now and make sure that the mounting bracket isn't broken. Also make sure that the tab protruding from the mounting side of the tensioner is alligned properly with the slot on the mounting bracket. Kinda dumb but... make sure the belt is routed properly as well!

[cavaliers60]

Do you notice a clicking/rattling sound when the engine is running? That was my indicator that the tensioner was bad. Also, if you replace it, don't over tighten the bolt for the tensioner pulley......... I did that and my $25 job turned into a $400 job. LOL

[MMGT1]

Just had a thought too guys... did they put the right length belt on it in the first place?! They may have gone too long and would result in what you are seeing there

[AleroB888]

Just had a thought too guys... did they put the right length belt on it in the first place?! They may have gone too long and would result in what you are seeing there

That was my first thought, too. And I have bought some replacement tensioners that had a different size pulley but they insisted the part# was the same.

[cavaliers60]

My new tensioner pulley is a bit smaller too, but I still use the same belt size. No problems.

[mastershake]

no clicking or rattling...

the belt is part 4060865, which i thought was correct. rock auto lists 2 different sizes. 86.5 and 87.2

[MMGT1]

you have the shorter of the two anyway... check the tensioner man