What is function of drive belt tensioner in car ( toyota corolla 2000)?

Answer 1

When you put a new belt on, it is one length. After you run it a while it stretches, which would make it loose and make it squeal. You would then have to tighten it so that it didn't squeal and would be tight enough to make alternator charge etc. With the tensioner it automatically takes up the slack so you don't have to tighten it yourself and it doesn't overtighten putting excess pressure on water pump, alternator etc.

Answer 2

in older cars each accessory (power steering, alternator, aic compressor) had its own belt and each had a seperate adjustment and quite frankly, they were all pretty much a pain in the butt
it might take you 2 hrs of knuckle busting to chande 4 belts
nowdays we have a long "serpentine" belt that drives everything
it has no adjustment to speak of but instead uses a spring loaded tension adjuster which takes up the slack in the system just enough to keep the belt fron slipping but not overtight which can prematurely wear out bearings
as the sep belt ages and starts to stretch the tensioner keeps the adjustment constant
they are prone to wear out, sometimes in a replacable bearing and pulley assembly and other times the spring tension itself wears out
they usually have a mark on them that shows when it is time to replace them.....or the bearing starts to howl like a cat with his tail in a blender
many cars use the same or similar approach to keeping tension on the engine timing belt as well
i hope that helps... thank u and good nite :)

Answer 3

It keeps the serpentine accessory drive belt (alternator, power steering, A/C) at the correct tightness, so that it will not slip or come off, but also loose enough to not destroy the bearings or wear out the belt.

Answer 4

It keeps the belt at the right tension so it doesn't slip when you speed up, also so it isn't too tight and causes the bearings on the pullys to wear out.

Answer 5

It keeps the proper tension on the belt so it doesn't fall off or squeal.