Serp Drive Belt

Ian5700 · January 2, 2007

On my 4.0 sohc explorer when i start it up in the morning the belt makes a squeeking noise, which becomes better when the lights are turned on as well as the a/c. When i drive through water the charge meter goes down towards the bottom, dimming all of the lights, than a few seconds later after leaving the water the belt will squeek and the charge meter will return to normal.

My question is what needs to be replaced to stop this. I replaced the belt roughly 5,000 miles ago, it didn't start untill just a couple weeks ago, however i noticed the charge meter dipping when going through water shortly after i changed the belt. The vehicle has 60,950 miles on it.

BrooklynBay · January 2, 2007

Welcome to this forum! Do you have an automatic belt tensioner? Your belt might be a little loose. Maybe it's not the correct length, or it could be an adjustment if you don't have an automatic tensioner.

trucku · January 2, 2007

when you changed your belt did you also clean your metal pulleys. They build up belt debris and may not allow your belt to seat properly. I had to change my tensioner on my 02 with 70k on it. The water just silents the slipping belt, by acting like bearings and lowering friction.

The first time I change my belt the store gave me the wrong size. It was an inch too long and the tensioner was not loaded properly and belt slipped.

To date changed the idler pulley (cheap), tensioner with pulley ($37 dollars).

other thread

Ian5700 · January 2, 2007

Yes i have the automatic tensioner, i can't really tell if this is the problem, it seems to go back and fourth, it might need replacing? I just don't want to rush into buying one and find out that it is not what is required.

I compared the new belt with the old belt when i installed it and they were the same size, the new one was very hard to get on, so i am pretty sure it is the right size.

I didn't clean any of the pullies when i changed the belt, but have tried the soap trick since then?

trucku · January 2, 2007

Soap trick? oh found it....lol

take the belt off and see if any of your accessories pulleys are having issues. Make sure they spin without any binding.

Don't use belt dressing, it will just make it harder to clean the pulleys and make everything a sticky mess.

If you have spin burn on the belt its becuase not enough tension is maintained.

1) take the belt of and check your pulleys. If you have binding fix first.
2) wire brush the metal pulley groves and then spray them clean (don't spray any cleaners on plastic pulleys, can damage them).
3)inspect your belt and clean off anything on it. Make sure its the right length. use a string then measure it and compare to old belt. Or compare to what manual specs. One inch extra will allow belt to slip, even more so when the belt streches.

Good Luck..lots of links on belt issues here.

Tensioner TIPS
Troubleshooting front end accessories drive

Ian5700 · January 3, 2007

TruckU,
I removed the belt, cleaned the entire belt. It had what could be best described as little stones in the groves throughout the belt. I also cleaned all the pullies, removing the soap (lol).

All of the pullies seemed to move freely, the automatic tensioner seemed to have good tension, as it slammed back up to resting position nicely when the belt was removed.

Thanks for you help, hopefully this will have solved the problem.

trucku · January 3, 2007

Ian5700 said:
TruckU,
I removed the belt, cleaned the entire belt. It had what could be best described as little stones in the groves throughout the belt. I also cleaned all the pullies, removing the soap (lol).

All of the pullies seemed to move freely, the automatic tensioner seemed to have good tension, as it slammed back up to resting position nicely when the belt was removed.

Thanks for you help, hopefully this will have solved the problem.

Good Luck :thumbsup:

Your Welcome :salute:

If you have squeek again , your gonna have to replace that fairly new belt. It might be to streched out from the debris in it and ribbs damaged. It will be hard to tell if your tensioner is ok, even though it snapped back into place. I would say change it along with the belt (cheap insurance), because once the new belt stretches a little again and the constant small slipping over time will wear it out the new belt and you will be back with squeek very soon.

Ian5700 · January 4, 2007

The squeaking has returned.

On start-up it seems to be coming from the large pully on the right of the engine (as if you were looking under the hood} which is highest up. There is the alt. pully then the smooth pully then this one in question and then the a/c maybe.

What is this pully called, is it the idler pully, if it is then i will just go ahead and replace it. To remove it does it just unbolt from the engine bolt like the automatic tensioner does?

When driving through water the belt slips and the vehicle loses charge power, i am not really sure if it is this pully or this pully as well as the automatic tensioner not keeping the belt tight enough when going through water, because before i changed the belt water did not effect the charge meter.

trucku · January 5, 2007

Its cheap insurance to change the tensioner as a whole..and the idler pulley is very cheap...

You already checked your pulleys and they had no issues, I would say you have a bad tensioner and now a ruined belt. First replace the tensioner. If it still makes noise then the idler and then belt.
One problem will influence another issue.

when I had same issue I thought it was the AC pulley.
Did you wire brush them metal pulleys totally clean? Mine were dark and now have clean shiny v-grooves.

Ian5700 · January 5, 2007

Yes i did clean all of the pullies quite well.

Which pully is the idler pully, i am not sure where it is located? Does it just unbolt from the engine block?

Ian5700 · January 26, 2007

I have replaced the automatic tensioner, idler pully as well as a second new belt. My question is the squeak has become better, almost gone, however this is still a slight hint of it?

Should there be one, like the bearings breaking in or something? Can you overtighten the automatic tensioner or idler pulley. I lack 3/4 torque wrench so i just did them up.

Serp Drive Belt

Ian5700

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