Serpentine Belt Tension Question

If the serpentine belt isn't tight enough would it cause the engine to shake real bad and idle rough and stall out. I replaced my alternator and adjusted the belt tension by loosening the front and rear bolts and pushing against the bracket and tightening but I did not adjust the tension bolt. And it when i got it all back together the engine rattles to hell and back and stalls after a 10 or 15 seconds.

if you can not twist the vertical its to tight .To loose I think it would overheat not shake

You want anywhere between 1/2 to 3/4" of play in the belt I believe, don't quote me on that.

well the belt was pretty loose so I tightened it up. I cranked it and I guess where it stalled out earlier it had some gas in there so I think it was flooded. I'll let it sit tonight and see if it starts tomorrow. It was pretty loose so maybe tightening it will make a difference. Anybody with any more info feel free to enlighten me.

Thanks
Rick

I normally go for the 90 degree test myself.
On the longest part of the belt, I get it so I can just twist it 90 degrees, then call it good. Never let me down yet.

Martin

The engine should run the same even without the belt at all.

You would have no PS pump/Alternator/AC/Water Pump/Cooling fan so it would overheat fairly quickly but it should still run as normal AFAIK

truck7575 said:

If the serpentine belt isn't tight enough would it cause the engine to shake real bad and idle rough and stall out. I replaced my alternator and adjusted the belt tension by loosening the front and rear bolts and pushing against the bracket and tightening but I did not adjust the tension bolt. And it when i got it all back together the engine rattles to hell and back and stalls after a 10 or 15 seconds.

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Belt tension should have no effect on engine shaking and vibrations. The car will perhaps stall if alternator is not charging and battery is weak. As far as tension of the belt, too tight is not good for life of the belt and you should have 1-2 inch play between two furthest pullies.

So any ideas of the extreme shaking. When I started the jeep before I was towed home it didnt shake at all, I towed it home put an alternator on and the SOB engine was shaking terribly then it stalled and now it wont start but it will turn over. I smell some gas too maybe it is flooded. Anybody have any clues to why this would be happening. I just need somewhere to start looking or checking cause I have no clue where to start. I wonder if I broke the motor mount if if would shake like that? when I pulled the engine from my old jeep it a motor mount bolt broke off in the block on the passenger side I wonder if mabye the other bolt broke on that side if it would shake so bad. I'm just throwing things out there. How bad would it shake if the balancer was bad? Could whatever made it stall be what is causing it to shake? The water pump is bad and needs to be replaced, the pulley still spins freely but it wobbles some and it leaks coolant bad. I don't think thie WP could be causeing it to shake. I'm so pissed im not sure what caused this problem.

sounds like its running on 5 or less cylinders, check to make sure you didnt disconnect any spark plug wires, or fuel injector wires. my xj is old, and the fuel injector wires are very finicky.... the result of a long life sitting on top of the exhaust mani.

And So the PLOT Thickens!

I got home today and checked out the motor mount and its good still. I tried to turn it over and the battery is completely dead. Yesterday when I tried to turn it over it had very little juice so I hooked the charger up too it and it turned over (did not start), the charger stayed on it all night last night and I took it off this mornin. This afternoon it's dead again. Something must be drawing current from the battery even with everything off. (the batter is a two year old optima red top so it should be good) THIS JUST GETS SWEETER BY THE MINUTE!

My dead Optima wouldn't carge after it drained without a heavy duty charger. I tried to revive it with my 10amp digital charger and it wouldn't do anything to it. I took my battery to work and hit it with 80amps for 15 min and it would take a charge after that.

How old was it, mine is not even two years old. So you think maybe I drained it so low that it it just wont hold a charge now. Maybe Ill just take it back and warranty it out and get a brand new one before the warranty is up.

I just remembered that when I was taking the old alternator off I didnt remove battery and sparked my ratched to the frame. Could this have shorted or burnt out something in my cap or rotor or a spark plug or something. I took my Optima redtop in and they said it was bad and they warrantied it out. They also let me pay the dfference on a yellow top so I upgraded I also got new cap, rotor, plugs and a compression tester if trouble shooting with the other stuff doesnt work. Anyone have any thoughts in light of the new info? What sorts of things could I have fried by sparking the alternator to the frame? Oh and I know I'm a donkey for not removing the positive cable, in case anyone was going to tell me that.
Thanks
Rick