Adjusting/realigning PS belt

[Roadrunner]

I noticed today the power steering belt in my SE has moved forward one rib. This is only on the ps pulley, it's perfectly centred on the other pulleys.
I just need to slacken it enough to push it back one tooth on the one pulley.

How do I do this?
Will loosening the adjustment nut provide enough slack to slip the belt back across one rib on the pulley?

The belt is getting replaced at the next service soon but would like to have the belt in line for the track day next weekend.

[smy0003]

Just slacken it right off. Off the top of my head there's one securing bolt and one adjustment bolt that needs to be dealt with to de-tension it. If you look up any timing belt tutorial you'll see what to do.

I would just take note of how much deflection is in the belt currently and try to match that roughly when tightening up.

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[hks_kansei]

Assuming the SE is the same as the regular NB.

You'll need to find the lower bolt on the PS pump. It's a 12mm head from memory (maybe 14?) just bolted through the lower pivot of the pump, loosen it off, nothing crazy maybe one turn.

Then simply use the long top adjuster bolt to slacken the belt. (the long skinny one facing sideways)
If you need a lot of slack you can loosen off the bolt holding the square block that the long tensioning bolt goes through, this will allow the whole tensioner to slide.

Push the pump towards the engine, and do whatever you need to do with the belt.

with the belt off i'd be first checking that the pulleys are aligned with a straight edge. If the pump is sitting a few mm out of alignment (or skewed) it will continue to cause belts to come off. if it's not aligned you'll need to look into shimming the pump on it's mounts to shift it to the right position.


Once done, pull the pump and put as much tension of with your hands as you can, and tighten the adjuster block bolt.
Then add furhter tension with the long adjuster bolt until it's as the normal tension.
Then tighten the lowest bolt on the pivot.

[david_syd_au]

What hks_kansei said, plus there is also a 12mm locking bolt at the top which stops any creep of the adjuster.
So the process is:
- feel and remember tension in belt
- slightly loosen lower pivot bolt, 14mm from memory. You get at it through the p/s pulley wheel.
- loosen upper 12mm lock bolt. It has a 12mm nut on the back you will need to brace.
- loose off adjuster (10mm?) enough to push p/s pump closer to block
- refit belt
- tighten adjuster to match original belt tension
- tighten top lock bolt
- tighten lower pivot bolt

If the belt has jumped, it is also possible it is too loose.
I have been told the tension should be such that you can twist the belt no more then 45 deg.

[Roadrunner]

Thanks everyone, I'll have a go tonight.
Bit paranoid as I've never touched any of the belts before.

[hks_kansei]

Belts are one of the easiest bits under the bonnet, there's really not much to stuff up.

Only real things to take note of are to put the belt on the same way it came off (they are supposed to rotate one way, especially if you're reusing an old one)

And yeah, tension it up afterwards.

Tension wise they're pretty forgiving. I normally tighten it so that with moderate force and two fingers I can move it 5-10mm either way from it's rest point.
If it's a bit too tight or too loose it's not the end of the world, if it squeals when revving, tighten it a bit.
If not, call it ok.

While you have the belt off it's also worth giving the pulleys a quick clean to get dirt and sh*t our of the pulley ribs (reduces wear when new belt goes on)
Dont use any lubricant, just a dry cloth, or some warm water with a bit of dishwashing liquid.

[Roadrunner]

With a big sigh of relief I can confirm I've fixed it!

Thanks everyone, I would never had attempted playing with that myself without reading all your advice.

Cheers!

(Oh and there's no belt squeals either)

[davekmoore]

Worth checking with a straight edge that the reason the belt was one rib off on one pulley is not that the two pulleys are not aligned. Guess how I know to check this?

[Roadrunner]

Thanks Dave, I'll be getting Mania to check this when its in for its service soon.
I did a track day over the weekend and it didn't jump so fingers crossed it was just an anomaly.