My belt has always gone over the idler pulley so it never touches it and I have never had any problems, but my friend was looking at it and he said it shouldnt be like that. I know its not supposed to be like that but Im not hurting anything am I?
lol...cuz I would need to go get a diff. size belt and I am lazy....Also I figured since it was running around less pulleys mabye I was gainin 1 or 2 hp
It helps kept the belt under control when your engine is in the upper rpm areas.? I would imagine that it could flip off of the pulleys if it got a big enought whip, and I would be suprised it it took .01 hp away from the engine.
Are you sure you would need a different size belt? My belt fits the way you describe it if the belt tensioner is tightening the belt all the way. And no, the idler pulley shouldn't be robbing any real horsepower. Also, I'm not sure if the belt would be making as much contact with the power steering pump as it should if it is not coming up from the idler pulley.
1. The idler pulley helps the belt wrap more around the alternator pulley and the PS pulley, so YES, it would be harder for it to "slip" off.
2. There is NO WAY IN H3LL that a belt is tight enough when it goes over the idler pulley and still be long enough to fit properly under the pulley. It commands a longer size.
Before I use a socket to loosen the tensioner, the right size belt lines up with the center of the STAR hole on the idler bolt. Then, when I loosen the tensioner, the belt slips under. There is no way that that belt will fit right both above and below the pulley.