Cars’ technical components can effectively cooperate thanks to the accessory belts. The serpentine belt is one of them.
Specifically, the tightness of the serpentine belt plays a key role in linking engine components.
Whether the engine parts, such as generator, alternator, battery, etc., work effectively depends on the serpentine belt tightness.
However, this factor often receives little attention from drivers. How tight should a serpentine belt be?
This post provides basic information about the serpentine belt in vehicle operation, helping you better understand its role. Keep surfing our post for some more recommendations on serpentine belt inspection.
Before answering: how tight should a belt be, let’s find out the operation principle of the serpentine belts in car engines.
What Is A Serpentine Belt?
The serpentine belt is a single and long belt that drives all engine components. This belt type is one of the most important components of the engine bay.
Serpentine belts are most common on later car models and the standard for modern vehicles. The belt’s advantage is less risk of being damaged and easy replacement.
However, once it malfunctions (belt deflection), it directly affects other accessories. The entire engine then possibly gets an impact.
Another similar accessory belt drive that can confuse amateur drivers is the timing belt or cam belt. You should know how to distinguish the two types for an accurate belt tensioner adjustment.
We can not deny its crucial role, transmitting power to several peripheral components through the engine’s drive pulley system.
This belt can activate the generator, air conditioning compressor, alternator water pump, raw-water pump, circulator pump, the cooling fan, and the power steering pump (sometimes).
Because of the oversized length and body weight, people often focus on the main axis of the serpentine belt. You can find it in the crank pulley in front of the engine.
How Does A Serpentine Belt Work?
The serpentine belt wraps over the pulleys in the internal engine. Therefore, the serpentine belt rotation is supported by pulley systems and tensioners.
The rotational movement will transfer energy (specifically, momentum to the rest of the vehicle). The belts comprise reinforced rubber, and on one side, you can find them usually ribbed.
As the belt wraps around different pulleys, the belt’s ribbed and smooth sides will exert different friction on the pulleys based on the loading extent they put on the belt.
So how tight should an alternator belt be?
How Tight Should A Serpentine Belt Be?
Half an inch of play is considered the standard alternator belt tightness. Little deviations can be accepted.
However, the serpentine belt’s effectiveness can be degraded if the tightening is over or below this parameter.
Your active inspection of the serpentine belt is essential. Once the serpentine shows signs of wear and tear, your car may unexpectedly stall. Other linked engine components, from there, can also be impaired.
Don’t worry too much because the entire belt has a respectable lifespan. It can operate at a maximum range of 60,000 miles to 100,000 miles. It means that you can drive without worry for about 5 years.
In addition, you can also recognize the necessary time to re-align the belt through the vehicle’s abnormal expressions. That is when you hear an annoying belt squeal.
Worse, sudden malfunction of the car’s air conditioner, water pump failure, etc., can also result from the belt’s errors.
Because of the distinctive size and arrangement of the entire belt, let the automobile service lend you a hand. They will help you detect errors or re-align the belt to an exact belt tension specs.
What Happens If A Serpentine Belt Is Too Tight?
The alternator belt too tight can render the engine to overheat. Bearings, especially water pump bearings, are most affected by excessive heat.
An over-tightened belt will cause the water pump bearing to rotate with huge pressure and heat, resulting in a humming noise when driving or accelerating.
What Happens If A Serpentine Belt Is Too Loose?
A loose belt is a much more common issue than an over tightened belt. Conversely, the loose belt reduces the driving force binding ability.
In particular, the energy transferred to the water pump bearings can be restricted, causing a shortage of water supply through the vehicle engines. And, of course, it leads to overheating.
Moreover, the engine parts work alongside the slippery. The battery and alternator also shoulder more burden to make up for this error, thereby becoming more vulnerable.
How to Test Serpentine Belt Tension?
How tight should my alternator belt be? This riddle might not bother you anymore. But another question arises: How can I test the belt tightness?
Realize The Engine Symptoms
As we have already shared, your car shows signs when one of the built-in parts fails.
And serpentine belt failure usually manifests through other machine components: for example, pulley systems, air conditioners, generators, or alternators.
A loose belt causes the failure of the alternator pulley spinning operation. Therefore, the dashboard warning light is also useful to help you identify errors.
Please consider if the battery-related symbol becomes glowing. If the battery is run over, battery tender or battery disconnect can be required.
When the original belt is loose, the ability to activate the raw-water pump is postponed or limited.
The motor, which is not supplied with enough water during long operations, suffers from overheating. So please do not forget to check the car’s temperature gauge.
A burning oil smell or even white smoke and blue smoke can also be a noticeable sign. It is caused by the excessive burning of engine oil.
Last but not least, the issued serpentine belt also contaminates functional liquid, like engine oil, coolant, and power steering fluid sticking to the belt.
Inspect The Serpentine Belt For Damage Without Expression
The vehicle’s symptoms mean that the engine is much more vulnerable than you can expect. So, relying on expressions can be seen as a delay.
When the vehicle reaches about 55,000 miles, we recommend you proactively open the hood and briefly check the tightness of the serpentine belt.
The original belt had a fairly proper tension alignment; however, in one or another, it can potentially stretch after a long mile. So how to tighten up a serpentine belt?
A ruler or a serpentine belt tension gauge can be a useful belt tension method if you want to examine it at home.
Tightness enhancing is required if tension is lower than half of an inch. Since the parameter is quite small, you need to be careful as much as possible to get the correct measurement.
During the inspection, if you detect glazed belt grooves, it’s time for you to tighten the belt more. A loose belt causes belt tracks to be melted or cracked.
Conclusion
How tight should a serpentine belt be? Now you got an answer to this tough question. In conclusion, the serpentine belt’s tightness is extremely important for other engine components.
Knowing this is highly recommended for both amateur and professional drivers.
Noticeably, you do not need to measure the tension anymore if the vehicle has revealed suspicious symptoms, remarkably dangerous ones like white smoke.
In that case, take your car to the company service center or any automobile repair service as soon as possible.
It would be better if the car were repaired directly at the owned brand. Thus, the serpentine belt’s specification can be precisely aligned with the vehicle’s particular condition.
If you still attempt to keep the vehicle operating under unstable conditions, you damage both the car’s longevity and your safety.