Trying to loosen the alternator belt on my mazda potege

Locate the two belts on the left side (passenger side) of your Mitsubishi Lancer. The outer belt is a serpentine belt, operating four pulleys and the inner belt is your alternator belt.

2 Follow the serpentine (outer) belt to the three pulleys lined up vertically near the front of the engine compartment. Locate the middle pulley, which is the tension pulley for the belt.

3 Loosen the bolt on the middle pulley with a socket wrench by turning counter-clockwise. Do not remove the bolt, just turn it a couple of times. Loosen the tensioner bolt on the side of the of the pulley, facing the front of the vehicle.

4 Remove the serpentine belt and then loosen the bolt on the alternator. With the alternator loose, move it forward so that the alternator belt loosens up and then remove belt from the pulleys.

5 Install the new alternator belt by placing it over both inside pulleys. Tighten the tension on the alternator belt by moving the alternator back and keeping tension on it by holding it back with a long screwdriver. While the alternator belt is tight, use a socket wrench to tighten up the bolt on the alternator.

6 Place the serpentine belt back on the pulleys and then use a socket wrench on the bolt on the front of the tension pulley. Once the serpentine belt is tight, tighten up the bolt in the middle of the tension pulley.

7 Start the Mitsubishi Lancer's engine to test the alternator belt and make sure it is working properly. Once you have verified it is working, turn the engine off.

Assuming that the belt is not broken ... you need to tighten the belt. This one is not as easy as the other two which have tensioners. This belt is tensioned by the alternator itself. I've found adjusting it to not be a lot of fun ... the tricky part is loosening the bolt that the alternator pivots on. There isn't a lot of room and I find one of the small palm ratchets to be helpful. So to tighten, you'd loosen the upper bolt that actually holds the tension on the belt, loosen the bolt that the alternator pivots on, re-tension the belt (using something to pry on the alternator if necessary) and tighten the two bolts again. If you have to replace the belt you'll need to remove the outer two to get to this one. The outer two tensioners are adjusted by loosening the bolt that holds the tensioner pulley in place and then turning the tensioner bolt itself to tighten or loosen the belt(s)... then retighten the bolt holding the pulley.

Its a simple question lol. By the alternator there should be an adjustment arm, it allows the alternator to be adjusted and move up and down. If you look at the alternator area you will see what all holds it together. The bottom bolt that holds the alternator in place doesn't need to be messed with. You may have to loosen the top bolt, but loosen the adjuster and push the alternator down to slide the old belt off and install the new belt and tighten everything back up. Adjust the adjustment arm to tighten the belt to spec.

Do you mean the tensioner pulley?

Then, I would look for something with a 1/2" square hole in a pivoting spring loaded pulley that is designed to put 'tension' on the serpentine belt.

Depending on the engine, it can be located in various positions.

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REMOVAL & INSTALLATION - 8 cylinder engine Alternator Belt

1. Loosen the alternator mounting and adjusting arm bolts.
2. Pivot the alternator inward and remove the belt from the vehicle. To install:
   
3. Install a new belt.
4. Holding the alternator in place to maintain tension, tighten the alternator mounting and adjusting arm bolts.

Power Steering Belt

1. Loosen the adjusting and mounting bolts on the front face of the steering pump cover plate (hub side).
2. Pivot the power steering pump inward and remove the drive belt. To install:
   
3. Install the drive belt.
4. Holding the pump in place, tighten the adjusting arm bolt and the mounting bolts.

Air Conditioning Compressor Belt

1. If the engine is equipped with an idler pulley, loosen the idler pulley adjusting bolt and remove the belt.
2. If not equipped with an idler pulley, loosen the adjusting and mounting bolts.
3. Pivot the air conditioning compressor inward and remove the drive belt.
4. Installation is the reverse of removal.

Air Pump Drive Belt

1. Loosen the adjusting arm bolt slightly. If necessary, also loosen the mounting bolt slightly and remove the drive belt. To install:
   
2. Holding the pump in place, install the drive belt, then tighten the adjusting arm bolt and the mounting bolt.

First unhook the negative battery cable so you do not blow the $20 alternator fuse. Loosen the bolt holding the adjust BLOCK in place on top of the alternator. Loosen the bolt holding the bottom of the alternator to the motor. Now you can use the adjuster bolt to slide the alternator over and out the belt back on . This is what you have to do to adjust your belt also. If you short the back of the alternator while tightening or loosening the lower bolt it blows an expensive fuse on the positive terminal of the battery(dealer only part)and your battery will not charge , no warning light, and your battery will go dead stranding you. When this happens a jump start will not help. A fully charged battery might get you home before it goes dead. Be Careful.

To move the alternator you have to loosen the bolt that holds the bottom of the alternator. Then loosen the bolt on the block that the long adjuster bolt goes through. Now you can turn the long adjuster bolt to move the alternator. To adjust the power steering bolt, you need to loosen the bolt in the center of the pulley (Holds it in place, Goes through the center of the pulley). Now you can turn the long adjuster bolt on the front of the motor to tighten or loosen the front belt.

( BEFORE ADJUSTING THE ALTERNATOR BELT DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLE OR YOU MIGHT BLOW AN EXPENSIVE HIDDEN FUSE)to change the alternator belt, you have to loosen the lower mount bolt on the alternator, loosen block shaped bolt that the long adjuster bolt goes through, and loosen the belt by turning the long adjuster bolt, take off the belt. to adjust the power steering belt, there is a long adjuster bolt that moves a tensioner pulley, first you have to loosen the nut that holds the pulley in place , now the pulley can be moved with the adjuster bolt.

If your engine are the 1,6 l , it is the same engine as my MX5 91.
You have to remove power steering belt first if you have one. Loosen the mounting bolt located behind the pump pulley, then loosen the tensioner bracket bolts( one on the engine bracket and one in front of the adjusting bolt). After unscrew the adjusting bolt and push down the pump. Remove the belt.
Now, it is the alternator. Loosen the mounting bolt located under the alternator, then loosen the tensioner bracket, but only the only in front of the adjusting bolt. Unscrew the adjusting bolt and pull up the alternator and remove the belt.
When you tightening the new belt, the belt should be able to make a 1/4 turn, to make sure it is not to tight.

1.6L (Zm) Engine Refer to the illustration for component location.

1. Loosen mounting bolts A, B and C.
   
2. Loosen the adjusting bolt D and remove the belt.
   

To install:

1. Installation is the reverse of removal.
   
2. Tighten mounting bolts A, B and C.
   

Location of the alternator mounting bolts and adjuster bolt D–Protégé 1.6L (ZM) engine


2.0L (Fs) Engine Refer to the illustration for component location.

1. Loosen mounting bolt A and B.
   
2. Loosen the adjusting bolt C and remove the belt.
   

To install:

1. Installation is the reverse of removal.
   
2. Adjust the belt deflection or tension by turning the adjusting bolt C.
   
3. Tighten mounting bolt A and B.
   

Alternator belt tension adjuster bolt (C)–Protégé 2.0 L (FS) engine

Your alternator should be held in place by two (2) bolts, one bolt is a pivot bolt, and the other is your adjustment bolt.

Loosen both, only loosen them, not remove them. Put pressure on the alternator, and tighten the adjustment bolt first, then toe pivot bolt.