Serpentine Belt shrinkage?

Hey all,

Been working all afternoon on my Ram Van. Thermostat decided to stick open and as I found out one side on the bottom had broken off. Explains the sudden-ness of it.

Anyway I had to take a lot off down to the main A/C bracket. I put everything back as it should and now the belt is too tight even without the tensioner in the equation.

The belt was on the ground under the van but may have had some sunlight.

Is it possible for the belt to physically shrink? I have the routing right as shown on the sticker on the shroud. I put it on the alt, idler, A/C, and PS pulleys and its aligned. But it only wraps halfway around the crank pulley. Tried to spin the crank but its not far enough to catch and stretch.

So, whats going on here?

This is the last thing other than the computer to go back on before I fill the system.

The belt won't shrink. You probably have it routed wrong, double check the diagram.

Dont try to put it on the crank last, try the alt last

Belts will shrink with heat.

I had a Fox body Mustang that I put a new serpentine belt on. It

didn't carry the tension of the old belt so I ordered another...

same thing. I ran it on the car as it was the belt that was called

for. Fast forward 3wks, the smog pump locks up on the interstate. I

pull over due to the smell of burning belt and of course the noise,

I yank the pump and proceed to gut the vanes out of it on the side of

the road. I reinstall the pump, route the belt and wolla!...the

belt fits perfectly now. I never pulled the belt from any other

accessory, just the tensioner and the smog pump.

Ether you have the belt routed wrong or you haven't pulled the tensioner back far enough

alt or the tensioner should be last to put on..belt wont get smaller...just walk away for awhile and revisit it..