Resolved 2GNT Serpentine belt flies off on start

[Fin]

97 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS. I've been struggling with the belt for a few weeks. I replaced the power steering pump and the belt and it still won't work. Every time I run the engine, the pulley spins and throws the belt off immediately. It's my first car and I don't know much. Please help!

 

[luv2rallye]

Check to make sure all pulleys are lined up EXACTLY and none are bent. Check the belt for the exact replacement. The ribs must not be so deep that they reach the bottom of the pulley grooves and they must be the proper width to match the pulley grooves. And of course the proper tension.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

You probably have a bad tensioner bolt. Check the condition. That's a very common problem with 420A. There's plenty of threads here about it.

I normally just remove the entire tensioner assembly and use the power steering pump to tension the belt. If you want to keep the tensioner, I have one in good shape for sale.

 

[Fin]

Okay, I'll try your suggestions out and tell y'all how it goes. Thank you so much cuz I got no clue what I'm doing

 

[Fin]

So my tensioning bolt was stripped and completely useless. I took your suggestion and removed the whole tensioning assembly and bought a smaller belt. If anyone else is having this issue here's a great tutorial I found to help you out. https://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=Deleting_Power_Steering_Tensioner