01 Camry - Belt Question

[OC768]

My girlfriend has an 01 Camry LE 2.2l with about 38k miles on it. I was going over it today and when checking belt tension (for the first time ever on this car) I found the alternator a/c belt at about 45#. I thought that low and the manual says 130#...so I cranked it to about 120# or so. But is it possible this belt has been operating like this for the last 35k miles? can a belt loosen up this much? I've seen belts on my cars go to about 30-40# max, but losing 80# just seems like alot. It is an OE belt, and the P.S. belt was about -10# from spec.

I'm also wondering if the belt has been trained to live with that low tension, did I just reduce it's lifespan greatly by setting it to spec?


Normally I'd just wait and see...but I'm hoping one of y'all may know the answer to this one. We are driving from Boston to Phoenix the week after next so I'm wanting to make absolutely positive things are cool for the trip.