alt belt

Asked by mah Feb 17, 2009 at 04:42 PM about the 1988 Mazda RX-7

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My car was stored for 4 years while I was overseas.  Since my return in Aug 08 my alt belt has snapped 3 times.  The first time it snapped I was enroute to my new duty station and had it replaced at the closest garage.  The garage said everything else looked fine.  The next time it snapped I took it to a Mazda dealership, they told me the garage used the wrong belt.  They replaced the belt and also a tensioner.  That repair lasted ~ 2 months.  It snapped last week.  Any ideas of why this continues to happen?    

4 Answers
85

Kyle answered 15 years ago

sounds like one of your pulleys is misaligned and wearing the belt wrong. or the tensioner is being tightened too much

Mark helpful

Tchuck answered 15 years ago

Almost exactly the same thing is happening to my 89 RX7 GTU coupe. It had been off the road since mid 2004 when I got an RX8. In January, I got the RX7 back on the road and I'm on my 3rd alternator belt - all snapped. What a pain especially since the alternator is the 4th belt in.

Mark helpful
35

Kristopher answered 15 years ago

I would go for misaligned pulleys, are you sure they changed a tensioner for alt. belt related problems ? I own 3 rx-7 and the tension of the alt. belt is ajusted by an ajusting bracket on the alternator itself ( as most cars ).

Mark helpful
5

Ryan answered 15 years ago

Yea I dont think many of them had an auto tensioner..... i would check for correct tension and also look to see if there are any sharp edges on any pulley. Any type of sharp metal chip could wear the belt and start to cut it over time. Also check to make sure every pulley is spinning freely....if not and a pulley was ceased it could heat the belt up and snap it for sure!!

Mark helpful

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