Do serpentine belts shrink?
 

I took off the accessory belt to swap my timing chain cover and get my mechanical fuel pump going. I took it off and threw it in the corner of the garage (it's pretty cold in there). Now, after all is said and done, it seems to be WAAAAAAAY too short. I mean it must have shrunk at least 5-7 in. A second belt that was waaaaay too big that I had up in my likewise freezing attic is also now just barely too small to fit. Am I losing my mind?

I pulled all the accessories off, sure, but they cant really be mounted wrong. I looked at a picture I took before and everything looks exactly the same. I have 150 lbs of freeweights dangling on the belt right now with a hairdryer on it. I dont really feel like blowing another $50 on yet another belt

I don't think the belts shrink at all. You must have it routed wrong.

Not a chance.



Take care,
~Chris

They don't shrink. You must be routing it differently. Whatever way you are trying to route it, do it the other way. My guess is that you are trying to route it so that the belt makes a regular S around the water pump and crank pulleys instead of a reverse S. The reverse S is the stock and shorter routing. The belt should go from the power steering pump to the bottom of the crank pulley and then around the water pump pulley down to the air pump pulley.

I can't believe you're hanging weights on it.

I took a REAL close look at the picture and it dawned on me that I used some totally screwed up routing which is why none of the belts fit. I went powersteering to top of water pump, over the crank to the bottom of the air pump up over the alternator across the tensioner back to the ps pump.

It fits even better now that I stretched it a little =P

Jim get's another gold star!

An easy way to remember is by the belt. If the pulley has grooves to match that side of the belt, it rotates clockwise. If the pulley has a smooth surface, it is driven counterclockwise by the backside of the belt. The only pulley that may break this rule that I'm aware of is the Ford p/s pulley.

Take care,
~Chris

Nah, Chris, Maroon 5.0 LX said it first with more brevity.

Look man, I'm running out of gold stars. Go easy on me. This time you both get one, but from now on, no more than 1 to a thread.

Take care,
~Chris