Systems and methods are provided for determining the length of a traction mechanism that is part of a traction drive of an engine. In one example, a method includes determining a position of a movable tensioning device relative to a traction mechanism drive using measuring technology, determining an actual length LAS′ of a traction mechanism computationally using the position of the tensioning device, determining a length change ΔL with respect to a predefinable setpoint length LAS computationally using the computationally determined actual length LAS′, and adjusting one or more operating parameters based on the length change.