i had to change my belt to day. the tensioner the bolt on the top that holds the part in place, is that suppost to move spring loaded or do you make it tight,? how can you tell if its too lose or tight.? is there a way to tell if the belt is slipping? is there any tell tail signs of to loose, to tight, slipping, or bad tentioner

thanks for the the info in advance.

 

What car? What year? Which engine? Which belt? We can't read minds here.

 

sorry
the car is a sebring year 06 engine size v-6 2.7L its the belt that runs the alternator and A/c. then to crank shaft.
my voltage used to read 14.54volts now its reads around 14.21-14.12 volts and sometimes will jump to 14.44volts but not allot mostly its at 14.10v any idea why please ?

 

that voltage is normal why are u so worried about 1/2 a volt? the pcm controls the charging voltage when needed.

 

You adjust the tension by loosening the pivot and locking bolts and sticking a 1/2 inch drive wrench into the 1/2 inch square hole. Apply the correct amount of tension with the wrench and tighten the locking bolt and then the pivot bolt.

If the belt squeals you don't have enough tension.

 

i worry about a half volt because of my stereo system i have in the car.
i've changed nothing. my old voltage was, 14.5-14.4 it slowly started droping more and more now its at 14.1 -14 trying to figure out whats not right, i have changed the front battery and replaced alt with a high output alt. the belt does squeal when first start then stops. volts will go up to 14.1 the drop to 13.9 with nothing running then jump back up again, when its cold or a cold light rain i will have the 14.5 -14.4 v reading.
witch leads me to belive that something has gone bad or is not the same as it was before. i would understand if my voltage was like it is, if i dident know and had it at 14.5 for a long time and now i never see that.

 

If the belt squeals, you should increase the tension and tighten it. A squealing belt is likely to get worse as the rubber gets glazed. A loose belt will also compromise alternator performance, although I'm not sure what you are reading.

The charging of the battery, as tech pointed out, is controlled by the engine computer. As a battery gets charged, you want to reduce the charging so as not to overcharge it. The way you do that is to reduce the voltage so it's closer to battery voltage. I don't know what you are measuring or how you are measuring it, but it's possible that what you are seeing is the computer regulating the voltage down as the battery is charged.
It's also possible that you were reading higher voltages with your old battery because it was not holding a charge and the computer found it necessary to charge it at the maximum voltage all the time.
In a DC system like in a car, the voltage will fluctuate within a range depending on the state of charge of the battery. Car electronics are built to expect this. It's normal.

 

a car stereo system is based off 12 volts so anything under 12v would affect it not 1/2 a volt from the charging system. Also if u are so worried about the ability of the van having stable 12 volts to the amps then put a cap in line of the 12v feed to the amp.

 

i thank you for your help but you are wrong about the 12v and being 1/2 a volt from the chargeing system will not make a diffrence. and adding a cap will do nothing.
amplifiers work of a 12v system thats right but at 14.2 volts. not 12v. there is a huge didffrence between a half volt when your chasing DBs everything ive been told on this forum as be helpful dont get me wrong. and please take no offence to this.

the reason i am worried about this .5 tenths of a volt is that before i change anything my voltage read out was 14.5 -14.4 peaking at 14.7-14.8
now i am lucky to see 14.4. the only time i see that now is a peak and only when i start the car. it will go from its resting voltage of 12.84 then spike up to 14.41 or 14.38 and the idle read out is 14.22-14.15 this is where my problem is.

a cap will actually make your voltage worse.
is there a voltage regulator in the car something that can be adjusted. something that could have went bad?

 

no u cant adj the voltage if u want steady voltage from the alt go get a Honda or GM that burns out alts because they stay full power all the time and U get to replace them .
The pcm is pulse with modulated the signal to the alt to give it the correct amount needed by the car to run the items in the car.

IS not a cap designed to keep steady 12v with no spikes? That is what I would want and then just beef it up off the steady 12v that is reliable not ever changing by the cars needs.