Alternator Belt Issues

[canucke30]

Hey everyone,

So last weekend I replaced all the belts on the 'ole 318. Got rid of the squealing noise that had been there since I bought the car in December. I was very happy... for about 5 days. The other night I am coming home on the freeway and I hear a weird noise from the engine bay and get a TERRIBLE smell of burning rubber. I pull over and notice that the alternator belt has FLIPPED over and has burned one of the ribs off the belt! The belt was as tight as I could get it... and is still quite tight. What could be the cause of this? I am going to fix it tomorrow and want to know what I did wrong.

[billybobjoseph]

You don't want that belt to be as tight as you can get it. You can destroy the bearings in you alternator. Bentley says when it's adjusted correctly you should have 1/4" deflection if you push on it with your finger. If the belt flipped over it probably wasn't seated into one of the pulleys correctly.