I just bought a 99 not to long ego. Recently the alternator belt broke. Its all stock, 114k miles. Started to squeal badly at low rpms. It broke.

Got a new belt, went to install it. The bottom bolt was loose, it threads in from the rear of the car forward into the alternator, so no space even for a nut. So i just cranked it on pretty tight. (it did not have a non threaded area on the tip)

Im not sure when i put it back on what was the weak link, i will know tommorro when i have light. It got me home tonight, but im afraid the bolt backed out agian? Figured I'd ask to see if this is a common prob or not!

cliffs- altnator belt broke, any common probs ?

 

Not that I know of. When i bought my car i changed the belts just because they were crappy. I loosened all those bolts, installed to belt, set the belt tension, and then tightened them all down. No trouble since then.

 

Whats the deal with the bolt that threads through the alternator? Ive never seen one like that. Im pretty sure thats the bolt that got backed out again.

 

Make sure the belt is on not too tight or too loose. You have the use to long thread bolt to adjust the tension.

 

The mount unlike i thought was fine. It did not move.

I set the PS and Alt belt at the same tension. It didn't start squealing until it was cold outside, and than it broke 10 mins down the road, after squealing after every stop.. For about 15 seconds once i got going.

Im going to get another belt, but i had it pretty tight yet loose enough where it had slack..

just confused, my mechanic level is much higher than an ALT belt change, but cant figure out why it keeps brekin!

 

make sure the alternator is spins freely.

 

check the alternator first then go to NAPA to buy your belts, I went through about 2-3 autozone belts before going to napa. The autozone belts would get stiff in a triangular shape and not turn