Coincidence or bad luck? Your input please.

[superjew78]

Last year i replaced 2 belts and the tensioner on my 2001 cruiser. The belt started squealing again. I brought it back on monday to the place that did the repairs. They said the belt and tensioner were fine. It just needed to be adjusted, so they did it. This morning my car was making a weird noise. I brought it back to them and in the shop the alternator seizes and the belt snaps. They said they need to be replaced.

What i am wondering is if they adjusted the tensioner improperly on monday, could that have caused the alternator to lock up cause the belt was to tight? Or is it just a bad luck situation?

[Handy_Cruiser]

Originally Posted by superjew78

Last year i replaced 2 belts and the tensioner on my 2001 cruiser. The belt started squealing again. I brought it back on monday to the place that did the repairs. They said the belt and tensioner were fine. It just needed to be adjusted, so they did it. This morning my car was making a weird noise. I brought it back to them and in the shop the alternator seizes and the belt snaps. They said they need to be replaced.

What i am wondering is if they adjusted the tensioner improperly on monday, could that have caused the alternator to lock up cause the belt was to tight? Or is it just a bad luck situation?

I don't think there's any adjustment to make on the PT's belt tensioner for the main belt. I think it goes on in only one position and the spring does all the work. However, the alternator belt is separate and has no tensioner. It is tightened via a bolt on the firewall side of the alternator.

It is possible that the shop over-tightened the alternator belt and that caused the alternator to fail. But it may be more likely that the front bearing in the alternator was already going bad and that is where the noise was coming from in the first place. Eventually, the bearing seized up and broke the belt. This is a fairly common occurrence on other cars.

[superjew78]

Oh alright. Thanks!

[quicksilverdon]

While too tight a belt can kill an alternator, it usually takes hundreds of miles, so unless you drove a lot between Monday and today, I wouldn't blame the shop.

[Busted_PT]

Originally Posted by Handy_Cruiser

I don't think there's any adjustment to make on the PT's belt tensioner for the main belt. I think it goes on in only one position and the spring does all the work. However, the alternator belt is separate and has no tensioner. It is tightened via a bolt on the firewall side of the alternator.

It is possible that the shop over-tightened the alternator belt and that caused the alternator to fail. But it may be more likely that the front bearing in the alternator was already going bad and that is where the noise was coming from in the first place. Eventually, the bearing seized up and broke the belt. This is a fairly common occurrence on other cars.

Originally Posted by quicksilverdon

While too tight a belt can kill an alternator, it usually takes hundreds of miles, so unless you drove a lot between Monday and today, I wouldn't blame the shop.

I would have to agree with the others on this. How many miles on your PT?

[superjew78]

my pt has 90k on it. I didnt drive that much in 2 days. Only put like 25 miles on it or so. I Just wanted to make sure it wasnt the shop. I usually always go to this place and they have never given me trouble. They have some new guys there though and just wanted to make sure.

Thanks Everyone

[randyincctx]

Alternator bearing was going bad,that's what initially started squealing.......Tightening the belt,stopped the squealing by putting pressure on the worn bearing,and then (just coincedentally) it seized at the shop........That's my hypothesis,because I've had alternator bearing go out before,and it squealed like a stuck pig till I rebuilt it!(on '76 El Camino)