Heard a guy at the auto parts store say to check your alternator belt tension before buying a new battery

I was waiting in line at O'Reilly's last Saturday when this older dude told the cashier his battery died twice in a month... turns out his belt was just loose. So I checked mine and sure enough it had like an inch of slack. Anyone else ever catch a simple fix like that before throwing cash at the wrong part?

2 comments

2 Comments

carr.xena9d ago

Hold up on that inch of slack thing. In my experience most alternator belts should only have about a half inch of give when you push down on them, maybe three quarters tops. An inch of slack is actually too loose and could mean your belt is already stretched out or your tensioner is going bad. Your mileage may vary depending on the car, but I've seen people over tighten them too which kills the alternator bearings faster. Definitely worth checking a proper spec for your make and model before you just go cranking on it.

davis.diana9d ago

Half inch is fine on newer cars, but @carr.xena has clearly never worked on anything older than a 2005.