Engine Squeal After Rain Or In Cold Weather

[wiscguy]

So I've had this problem for a while, but since I have the time and a thirst to fix something, I have an issue with engine noise.

During the winter or after it rains I get a squeal from the engine that seems to dissipate once the engine has time to warm up. Fixing cars is new to me, so my tech experience is low, but I feel learning should be top priority.

My father and I have tried lubricating the serpentine belt, but that does not seem to help any.

Its a 2001 sport if that is needed.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[wiscguy]

I did not realize I was in the mountaineer section. Could a mod please switch this to the appropriate location. My apologies

 

[bobflood]

So I've had this problem for a while, but since I have the time and a thirst to fix something, I have an issue with engine noise.

During the winter or after it rains I get a squeal from the engine that seems to dissipate once the engine has time to warm up. Fixing cars is new to me, so my tech experience is low, but I feel learning should be top priority.

My father and I have tried lubricating the serpentine belt, but that does not seem to help any.

Its a 2001 sport if that is needed.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

A squeal that only happens in the rain/damp and then goes away is often a loose sepentine belt. It slips when damp, but then is fine when it dries out. Check the belt tension and maybe tighten it up a bit.

 

[Dono]

maybe squirt some belt dressing on the belt while its squealing and see if it goes away?

 

[wiscguy]

maybe squirt some belt dressing on the belt while its squealing and see if it goes away?

Thanks for responding,

I did that and it seems to make it worse.

Any thoughts?

 

[Henre]

I have never had luck solving this kind of problem with belt dressing. I have used a bar of hand soap; being very careful I have let the soap rub against the belt while the engine is running. This is not a permanent fix, but it does help the diagnosis.

Also, maybe the idler axles are dry. A well placed shot of WD40 may give you some information.

 

[joecrna]

Listen to see if you can tel where its coming from. If not a bad tensioner, turn off engine and push on the belt to check deflection. Maybe tighten the belt some. Probably just replace the accessory drive belt with a new one. When the belt is off, really give the tensioner a thorough once over. If the new belt doesn't stop it, the tensioner is likly in need of a replacement. After that, look at all of those spinning drives the belt turns. Could be bearings etc in any of those but I would wait until I had more problems than just a squeel at that point. I reccomend this coarse since you said you were new to fixing cars.

 

[wiscguy]

Ok ill give it a shot. Thanks for all your help guys.