Just replaced my belt on my 96 LS. Question is, what's the worst that can happen if my belt is too tight?

 

To much pressure on the pulleys can cause the bearings to go out prematurely I believe.

Proper tension from this walk through, "there should be about one inch of deflection on the longest run"
http://www.clubcivic.com/board/showthread.php?t=37920

 

use some logics, too tight= premature wear!

 

there would be more wear on the belt, the pulleys and tensioner are stationary the tension pulley spring isn't under that much load.

 

I assumed pressure on bearings... Was kind of hoping the belt will stretch a tiny bit. Thanks for the replys

 

broken cams are what usually happens. may take months but tight belts are a big cause of it

if you tension it as designed there is no problem. if you add "extra" tension, cams are at risk.

it's also hard on the belt

 

if you don't mind me asking why are you running it so tight to begin with?

 

Belt will break.

 

Agreed.

Unfortunately, if it was just the belt it's not that big of a deal, the problem is "when" the belt breaks, at a start up or at a high RPM shift at high speed, now that truly would be a problem. 94

 

I put a new belt on it before I put it into the car. I can move the belt maybe 1/2 in. I'll try to loosen the tensioner bolt through the engine cover.

 

how did you tension it? 1/2" of deflection is about right on the long side. this is kind of a dangerous thread since it's all guess work.

long story short, install the belt just like the book says so and run it

 

faster wear

 

When the motor was out I just manually slid the tensioner to when the belt was tight. It wasn't banjo string tight when I set it. Lol. Long side?? By this do you mean the side closest to exhaust manifold?