Hey there, I have a cranky old 91 Corolla and recently had the power steering go out. The engine was replaced with one from a totalled car about 5 months ago by a mechanic who is a good family friend. On inspection, I realized that the belt that drives my power steering had come right off the pulley. I will have to remove it and the main belt in order to replace it, because it got caught in a piece of the engine and part of it is now warped. My question is this: the car has no tensioners of any sort for the belts, and I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me as to how they get their belts to a good tension? Do you just push the pieces by hand as hard as you can and then tighten?

Sorry for the long-windedness of my post and thanks in response for any advice.

Hey there, I have a cranky old 91 Corolla and recently had the power steering go out. The engine was replaced with one from a totalled car about 5 months ago by a mechanic who is a good family friend. On inspection, I realized that the belt that drives my power steering had come right off the pulley. I will have to remove it and the main belt in order to replace it, because it got caught in a piece of the engine and part of it is now warped. My question is this: the car has no tensioners of any sort for the belts, and I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me as to how they get their belts to a good tension? Do you just push the pieces by hand as hard as you can and then tighten?

Sorry for the long-windedness of my post and thanks in response for any advice.

I just replaced a serp. on my 93 Corolla. It it is the same, your in for an adventure. I remember 2 bolts, one near the Alternater pulley and another one hidden underneath the Alt. near the Radiator. It is extremely difficult to get to unless you have a box-in gear wrench, I don't remember the size. You have to turn the bolt to move the alt. in and out. It moves very slowly unless you use that gear wrench. Once you get the tention you need you tighten it all back up. Best done on a warm day...good luck.

You may also want to wonder why the belt jumped in the first place -- it's possible that the wrecked donor car damaged the alignment of some of the belt driven accessory mouting brackets.

Once you get it back together, do a serious visual of the belt and pulley alignment. Do this with the engine running and when off -- a timing light aimed at the pulleys and belts while the engine is running may indicate lateral movement that would indicate poor pulley alignment.

{edit:add} I use a tire iron [crowbar] to get the tension I want -- it's easier than by hand, lol