Power steering belt

[Chip]

Having an issue with my power steering belt stretching. I replaced one that had stretched beyond the adjustment point. Now the new belt seems to have stretched and I have adjusted. All pulleys seem to fine. What would cause the belt to stretch in about 2 months time?

[shogun]

check all items which are driven by this belt.
Not sure in case of your engine but for example water pump play, alternator, fan clutch and the tensioner and damper of course.

I do not tighten the belts very tight, just that they do not slip, if too tightened, that brings stress to the belt, and also to the other parts like water pump bearing etc
(maybe not according to the books, but it works)

[BigKriss]

maybe its a poor quality belt, but they normally dont stretch only break

[Chip]

This is the inner belt on the pulley- the outer goes to the compressor. There is nothing else driven by this belt just the pwr steering pump. I didn't tighten the belt very much- I understand your thought process on over-tightening. What would happen if the pump is starting to fail- would it wobble under acceleration (higher RPMs)?

[Tiger]

What brand is the belt? It is possible that your steering system is binding that the pump work harder and wears out the belt. V belt is tightened to about 1/2" play in the middle fo two pulleys if short distance... and a bit more for longer distance.

Loose belt wear out much faster too. How long of period are we talking about?

[Chip]

Belt brand is Conti- so I feel it's not belt quality-
I tighten to about half inch on this belt. The belt that was on there probably had 6 or 7 years on it. The car sat for about 6 months then I got it back on the road and that's when the belt stretched. I replaced this about 2 or 3 months ago and it was probably less than a month when we started to notice steering issues (jerkyness in steering due to the loose belt).

[Tiger]

I would double check the pulley. Make sure the belt is sitting at the right height. You might want to try different brand and go smaller length so you can get more adjustment. I feel your belt is too long.

[Chip]

The belt is suppose to be 10x865- I replaced with a 10x850- this puts it at the close end of the adjustment, plus it was the same brand- belt still has/had good tension. I still think something had to change to cause the first belt to stretch. I want to try revving the engine to see if there is any effect to the pump/pulleys.