Hello, last night on my way home from work in my 97 hatchback with a b16 swap the battery light came on, and when i went to look at the belt it was about a 1/4" loose from the pulleys. I have no a/c or power steering.

I then noticed that the alternator had no bolt on the tensionor and the whole alternator was as close to the front as it could be, leaving no tension. The alternator wont slide back any further, can it be jammed?

Is my alternator supposed to just be all the way forward and i just stretched my belt?

 

Verify the alternator bracket, belt, tensioner bolt, and the alternator itself are correct for your engine.

I've seen many installs with no upper tensioner bolt. The lower bolt is used to "pin" the alternator in a tight position. A pry bar is used, and then the lower bolt is tightened up. Eventually this will loosen and cause the alternator to hit the engine. Start with the above information I provided.

 

Thanks alot, it was my tensionor bolt, or the lack of one i should say. I never noticed before if there was one on when i bought the car or after recently having the engine serviced.

I got the tensionor bolt replaced there hasnt been any problems.

I wonder if there was a tensionor bolt before, i guess it could have worked its way loose and fallen out.

 

A lot of cheap or inattentive mechanics do not install a bolt in this location, because the pivot bracket slots don't always line up with the alternator bolt hole. This leads to the upper adjustment retaining bolt stripping out in the alternator housing as it is forced into position, or not being installed at all because it does not line up properly without loosening the 14mm bolt on the water pump housing. The bolt is simply omitted, which is a problem obviously.