How do you adjust belts...

[AE82 FXGT]

Hey I was wondering how you go about adjusting belts in a 4a gelu (ae82 blue top tvis if that makes a diff.). Because this morning I started my car to hear a real weird noise, when I checked under the bonnet I saw two belts to the left of the block that were touching each other and tearing each other up. So I need to put each of the respective belts on properly, they are both fairly tight, but I figure they'll need replacing as they are wasted and are able to get loose. Is it easy for someone not too hands on to do temporarily untill I get new belts, or would it be something left to a mechanic? Any help would be appreciated...

[Alex B]

Maybe they are over tight, V belts do not need to be overtight, infact it can damage the things it running (waterpump A/C etc). Thats the whole point of v belts

[evil_si]

not hard to do,

there is an adjuster bolt and locking nut in the middle of the tensioner, the tensioner is the pulley with no grooves in it and the back of the belt runs on it.

loosen the lock nut in middle of tensioner, and loosen or tighten the adjuster bolt, make sure the belts are all seated before tightening, new belts arnt to expensive, best to be safe than sorry.

dont do the belts up too tight, an easy way to tell the right tension is you shud be able to twist the belt 90 degrees by hand.