My alt belt was too stretched out on my '94 Protege. I replaced it. The new one stretched out in weeks. I was told to use a Gates belt. I did. It, too, stretched out in a month or so. I got another
Gates belt that was shorter than recommended (1/2 " shorter). It, too, stretched out in a month or two. Help me, please! -Ned

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Somethings putting a high load on the belt............

The "V" belt - right? It's only on the water pump and alternator so chances are either the
one of the units has bad bearings and/or the belt is just slipping in a bad pulley.....
Check both..........

Check all the pulleys (that turn) for bad bearings !

For the serpentine belt, The belt tensioner obviously maintains the correct tension, so putting on a shorter belt
actually increased the tension, and probably made a bad situation even worse......check also,
to see if you got the correct belt in the first place.


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Are you sure it was stretched and not just glazed?

I'm not certain it was stretched. The arm where I apply tension is maxed out. Everytime I replace it, it maxes out. I don't know why?