Alternator Belt Repeatedly Slipping

[funnycat]

Hi, My '96 Mitsubishi Galant is throwing us for a MAJOR curve here. First things first. Since the car has over 100,000 miles on it there are some 'flaws' that usually don't affect the operation of the vehicle. Needless to say my lights were left on one day and the battery went dead (due to my error as well as the cars 'warning' bell not going off upon getting out of the car). I had been noticing BEFORE the battery went dead that when I would be driving at night the headlights would dim upon applying the brakes. SOOO...battery went dead, couldn't jump start it (figured it must have had a bad cell)...bought a new battery. New battery seemed to cause the belts to spin faster...and a squeal could be heard upon starting the vehilce. Then....I had a belt go. Replaced BOTH power stearing and alternator belts.....MAJOR, MAJOR sqealing erupted from the belts. Adjusted belts again....they were fine for 3 or 4 days. Driving down the highway....alternator belt gets chewed up, but thankfully stayed in place. Replace belt again. From this point on whenever the car is cold (such as in the early morning or evening) the alternator belt continuously 'slips' or is kicked off. We've adjusted the feet on the tensioner to see if that was the problem, as well as checked all pulleys (they all seem tight). Any ideas why once the belts are put back on and tightened up it will stay ON after repeatedly starting and stoping the engine, but a few hours later when the temp is down it is throwing the belt off? Alternator appears to be functioning properly, battery and belts are all new. We are at a MAJOR loss here and can use ANY help with this. There isn't any information on this in the Chilton manual on this type of thing either. Thanks in advance!!

[YankeeKid2k3]

sounds like the belts are stretching when the engine runs and then they dont contract when they cool off. Is the tensioner good?

[Inman Lanier]

I would have the alternator checked - if it was overloaded trying to charge a bad cell in the battery, then started to fail, it might be overloading the belts somewhat. It is unusual to have two different items fail that are unrelated (i.e. dead battery and THEN have belts start going bad). There is a common thread in the alternator, however. Really bad batteries can damage an alternator if at idle (where the alternator can't put out much current).

[funnycat]

Thanks for all the info! It turned out that my Harmonic Balancer was in MAJOR need of replacement. We made that repair on Friday and the cars been running okay since. I'll keep that info about the alternator in mind for the next few weeks....just in case anything new happens. I appreciate the help!!

[eibowow]

i think my '95 is doing the same thing. The battery went dead about a month ago and when i started it, it was fine. Now it started squeeking and its very very embarassing. To get the alternator checked at autozone or someplace like that, do you have to dis-assemble it first or do they come outside and check it for u?

[Scooby2204]

try checking the pivot bolt on the altinator, power steering pump and the compressor and tighten them down really good if this dosent work well loosen all the bolts first then pull the tension on the belts first then tighten the tension bolt then tighten the pivot bolt till you cant anymore if it continues u may have a stripped bolt or the threads inside of the component may be stripped in that case u would either have to get a new bolt with a lock washer or rethread the hole

[eibowow]

aright man. i have the haynes repair manual for this car, i guess i'll just use it to find my way around. You wouldnt know if there really was a recall would you? I guess i could call mitsubishi and find out whats the deal. Im gonna add you to msn, yahoo and aim for further refrence if thats cool with you, scooby, aight peace

[Scooby2204]

aight dats cool