Squealing belt.....Belt conditioner??

[fatboy1185]

A belt is squealing, only till the motor is warmed up well, then it stops. Would belt conditioner fix this? I havent pinpointed the exact belt yet Thanks

 

[pugsy]

There's only one belt and if it squeals, it's probablly time for replacement. Check the Serpentine belt to see if it looks worn and cracked. If not, could be the squeal is coming from one of the pulley's or tensioner.

 

[freeballer]

Do NOT USE the belt conditioner, it will make the belt sqeuak all the time, very loadly

 

[Robrt32]

Freeballer is correct..... I made that mistake.... Tensioner was my problem

 

[fatboy1185]

So i should tighten or loosen the tensioner if it is squeeking?

 

[pugsy]

First make sure it's the tensioner. I'm not sure how to test it other then putting on a new belt and see if it still squeals. That's an expensive way to check...but you may luck out and it stops squealing, meaning it was the belt. If it's the tensioner...prolly need a new one, not a tighen.

Not sure if others have a way to check or not of how to fix a tensioner

 

[mikeinri]

When mine went bad, the guts were toast. One way to check would be to slip the belt off the tensioner, and check for play (the pulley should not have any play on its axis).

Think of this like a wheel bearing, all you want is smooth spinning, no side-to-side movement.

Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[troy11556]

check the tension on the belt make sure that it is tight and not loose. if thats not the problem check the items on the belt... for example if you water pump is going out and starts to freeze up or a pully is going out it can cause it to. when my water pump went out it did it to me but my only problem is that it chewed up the belt when it got bad enough. second try disconecting the ac compressor so it dont engage. if it is doing it cold you ac compressor kicks on when the defroster is on. so if you diconnect it and it does not squeel then you need to replace that. as far as the tensioner take the belt off and see if it free spins easily...

 

[Skydiver]

fatboy ,

I share the same opinions as the others above.

DO NOT use belt dressing/anti-squeal. The squeal will return as the chemicals wear off... IF the chemicals even manage to stop the squeal at all.


I had the same problem a couple months ago. The squeal was my belt tensioner. It was badly worn/damaged. My belt seemed fine but I replaced it anyhow since I could not recall when ( 2 years ago, maybe ) it was replaced for sure.

Tensioners seem to go bad almost half as often as the belts. So suspect it as well as the belt.


Some of the parts stores will let you use a belt tension gauge if you simply want to check tension.

 

[aldive]

Remove the belt and then run the engine to see if the noise is belt/pulley related.

 

[fatboy1185]

Well, I sprayed some engine cleaner in my bay, and a little on the belt. Well the squeeling stopped for a while, so that leads me to believe that it has something to do with the belt itself, and not internals of a pully or anything.

 

[aldive]

Do not put anything on a serpentine belt.

 

[fatboy1185]

So what should I do? Belt seems tight.

 

[Four0Sport]

did you ever visually inspect the belt? what color is it? are there cracks on the ribs? is the smooth outside of the belt glazed? are the sides frayed? if you have and cracks along the ribs or the the smooth side is glazed over replace the belt.

to eliminate pulleys do as asldive said. remove the belt, start the truck, if you dont hear the whine then it is pulley or belt related. if you still hear the whine you have other problems. while the belt is off spin the pulleys by hand and listen or squeals and feel for play in the bearings of the pulleys.

 

[aldive]

So what should I do? Belt seems tight.

Do you have the correct belt?

 

[fatboy1185]

Which pully do i remove the belt from, the main one in the middle, under the arm of the intake system?

 

[aldive]

Which pully do i remove the belt from, the main one in the middle, under the arm of the intake system?

I usually remove the belt from the tensioner pulley when releasing the tension.

 

[Four0Sport]

the pulley will be attached to a bracket looking peice, that is your tensioner. a 3/8th ratchet fits in the middle of the pulley and you release tension by moving back on the pulley. make sure to remember how the belt was routed if the diagram is missing from your car.

 

[fatboy1185]

Excuse my ignorance, but is that the one right under the arm of the intake tube? It has a bolt on the front, looks like its used for adjusting?

 

[Four0Sport]

the idler pulley is just bolted to the motor.. the tensioner pulley will have an 'arm' coming out from the center, over to a round metal assembly that is bolted to the motor.

if all else fails grab your belt and pull on it.. the pulley that moves up and down is the tensioner pulley.