Are there any tell tale signs that your accessory belts are overtightened? If they are too loose they squeek. If they are too tight will it make a noticeable difference in the car's performance? I have a hard time adjusting just by checking belt play. I mean if you push harder, there is more play. Is there a place to get a belt tension gauge?

thanks~

 

One way you can do it is to get a straight edge and lay it over the pulleys of the belt you are tightening and then use a ruler to push down on the belt. Then measure about a half inch of deflection from belt to the straight edge. Been doing this for all the times i tighten my belts and it works fine for me. HTH man.

 

what does HTH mean?

 

HTH= Hope that helps. HTH...

 

That's a neat tip I do it differently which is just by feel and your technique is for sure more accurate

judd

 

ok, my question again,
will a tight belt hurt performance ie, will it put a drag on the engine?

 

yes. to a degree it will hurt performance and it will also wear out the bearings of your accesories. the half inch deflection rule is good and yes you can purchase a tool that will tell you belt tension. I would look on snap-on.com.