What the hell.. why is my belt tensioner way closer to my ac comp than it should be?
 

Pretty much what the title says, even without messing with the belt at all my tensioner is really really close to the ac comp and really far away from crank pulley.

Maybe a dumb question, but is the belt installed?

I tried putting the belt on, it does the same thing. And of course since it's so "off" I can just spin wind the belt around with my fingers :p

I tried comparing it to my TA and there is a HUGE difference between how close they are. I guess my next move I can do is just to try taking the tensioner off it and putting it on my camaro and see if the same thing happens.

Pics? :)

And I can't picture it right now, but can it be installed backwards?

No you can't install it upside down or backwards:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...1111001506.jpg

looks like u need a shorter belt. maybe urs streched

Well....as long as there's tension it should be ok, right? I'll crawl under my '97 and snap a 'pic if you want me to...

Is that an ATI Damper. It also looks to be a reduction so you will need a shorter belt than stock

No. There has to be enough tension.

There is a little arrow and some markings on the tensioner that show the range of tension the belt should be within. If it is out of range, you need a shorter (or new) belt.

i vote the belt is the wrong size

I second this. Try a slightly shorter belt 1-2" shorter. and see how well it fits.