Engine Belt tension

Mustang gt 2001@

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Apr 5, 2014
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Hi all . I have a 91 GT Mustang. Long story short I Changed a few things and needed a new belt. After trying about seven starting with the the string technique and then going up and down in sizes I ended up with one that seem to work pretty good. however the tensioner is pretty far to the right. Is this acceptable or should I try and go another half inch smaller? Thanks.
 

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What pulleys are you running and what routing are you using? In my opinion I would want the tensioner to be approximately midway between tensioner position with no belt and as far as can be moved with wrench attached.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Thanks . That’s what I was thinking. That’s where I was before I rerouted the belt and moved things around. Has anyone tried this before as far as do you think a half inch smaller would get me there?thanks .
 
what things did you change and how is the belt routed. The flat side of the belt needs to be running against the water pump. Do to the inaccurate tolerances in the brackets you may need to go up or down a size

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Thanks for the help . I was able to go down a half inch on the belt to get the Tensioner right in the middle . Started with sting and went through about 7 belts to get it just right . Glad the auto parts store were cool about it .
 
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Hi all . I have a 91 GT Mustang. Long story short I Changed a few things and needed a new belt. After trying about seven starting with the the string technique and then going up and down in sizes I ended up with one that seem to work pretty good. however the tensioner is pretty far to the right. Is this acceptable or should I try and go another half inch smaller? Thanks.

Just reading your thread and it looks like I am a hair more to the right than you are. I have no AC, no smog, with the relocated power steering pump. I am running a 75” belt. It looks like I can probably get away with the 73”, which would put my tensioner back in range. I have a 73.5” on the shelf..... I’ll have to give that a try.
I never noticed that before..... thanks for the thread!!
 
The belts tend to stretch over time. I usually try and find a belt that is closer to the “tight” end of the scale. After some use they tend to be near the middle or loose end
 
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The belts tend to stretch over time. I usually try and find a belt that is closer to the “tight” end of the scale. After some use they tend to be near the middle or loose end

That’s probably why my 73.5 is on the shelf. Felt way too tight. If I left it, it probably would have been fine!