midnight01

hey guys quick question,

I had a mechanic look at my balancer as I thought I had the infamous shake of death and it turns out it is acting normal but I replaced the serpentine belt and had a very small squeal that sounded like little chirps constantly. So me being the moron decided to put some belt dressing on to see if it would make the crickets go away. It made it WORSE lol.
Now at idle it is non existant but once I give it gas it sounds like several cats are fighting under my hood. Is it possible my belt tensioner(s) decided to go on me? It does it warm or cold, thanks for the help ahead of time
its a 01 C5 coupe 132k miles

Zealot06

I had a similar issue with my 02 Z06. I ended up replacing both the main serpentine belt and the A/C belt. I also replaced the tensioner. I also removed all the idler pulleys, cleaned and re-lubricated them. Each time I changed something the squeaking diminished, but it didn't go completely away until I lubed the pulleys.

There's a member here on the forum who has a Youtube channel and does a very good job demonstrating the procedure. Just do a search for Froggy and you'll find his videos. I have learned a lot from watching his videos.

Christian327

Wow bro! This exact thing just happened to me today! I changed the serpentine belt from dayco to gaterbelt a couple of days ago. All of a sudden I hear squeaking bad today. Not when it's idling but only when I push the gas. I tried to check in my driveway/try to do process of elimination with each pulley and I immediately thought it was the harmonic balancer being the problem. Especially with all the talk of the vettes being notorious for it going bad. (I pray it's not). I took it to a local loyal mechanic to just give it a listen and he said it's probably the tensioner. I talked to the previous owner and he said that he changed all the pulleys besides this one so it makes sense. I went to o Reilly's and ordered a Gates tensioner and pulley. Install seems super easy. I will do it tomorrow. I pray that this is the solution. If not then it may be the harmonic balancer

midnight01

keep me posted, I was about to do the same thing and if your tensioner clears it I'll go grab one.

midnight01

i have been watching his numerous videos to warm myself up. It appears that when the previous owner sold me this vette, he failed to mention the only maintenance he performed was oil changes and transmission flush. When I did the plugs cylinders 3 and 5 plug wires were original equipment and so shot that they were hanging like they were cut and only feeding the plug by 1 small little wire the size of dental floss. never replaced the O2 sensors, it needs a new drivers rear shock actuator for the f45, and idle oil pressure when oil is 220 degrees is 15-20psi, but shoots to 45 when giving it gas. I wish people respected their vehicles a little better. The vette has 132K on the odometer but still runs strong. And its midnight blue and the body is in great shape as well as the paint surprisingly.

grantv

What brand belts, sorry if I missed that... I put brand new belts on mine only to chirp after a few months. Then Continental Elite; all good since.

midnight01

i used a duralast, it didnt start chirping until I put some stupid belt dressing on it. It had a very small chirping noise before, but after the dressing it got extremely louder.

Christian327

I will let you know tomorrow how it turns out brother. In the meantime, buy the continental elites belt (formerly gator back)...it could be as simple as changing to a superior belt. I think this problem definitely benefits from process of elimination.

Christian327

Just replaced the tensioner, easiest job in the world...bad news is noise came back as soon as I turned up the rpm. If I give the belt a quick spray of water, the noise stops. I'm going to try a new belt and see if the old one was defective (Hail Mary). if not then I'm dread that it's the harmonic balancer and will take it to a corvette shop for confirmation.

midnight01

Not good, my squeal has gotten less now and I might have pinpointed it to the AC tensioner as the noise when it is low rpm sounds like something is getting stuck, it squeals then stops for a few seconds then starts again and sometimes it does the same thing slower and sometimes faster, I think a bearing is going in one of the pulley's because it's a metallic noise not a belt noise.

KAGEY228

I am subscribing to this thread. My coupe sqeals a little on damp or rainy days. I will follow closely.

Christian327

Ok so update: Had auto zone replace my previous old dayco belt for free, put that one on and took the gator back off. So far so good, just drove around a bit...no squeal or anything. Maybe when I sprayed the continental belt, i over did it & messed it up or maybe it has something to do with the dayco size belt vs the continental belt, not sure. Oh, and now that you mention AC tensioner, that's what I started thinking today. Now that noise is gone, will have to keep that in mind. Will keep yall updated if anything arises.

midnight01

Glad you got it resolved! I think I'm going to do the same and have them replace mine as well tomorrow. You may be on to something here. Although that metal scraping sound does have me concerned lol

grantv

If you ever think its the HB, remove both belts and run it for a bit. Won't do any harm for a few minutes... if the noise goes way it's something else. Noise stays and, well... only the HB would be turning.

Christian327

Good to know brother!

mrlmd

You are not getting many responses to this question because there are innumerable threads on this forum about how to diagnose and resolve this issue. Do a search on here or a Google search for a squeaking or chirping belt and your questions will be answered.

Zealot06

Point taken, but seems to me that midnight got plenty of helpful responses and feedback, and is well on the way to resolving this issue.

mrlmd

If you think that anecdotal stories are helpful responses and feedback, then look no further, but if you want some real good advice and real help, then follow my advice and do a decent search. Otherwise, replace every possible part, serpentine and AC belts, (with the correct recommended belt), main belt and AC belt idler and tensioner pulleys, harmonic balancer, water pump, PS pump, alternator, and you'll eventually stop the squeal.

Christian327

As a heads up...upon further research and thinking. I believe I bought the wrong continental belt (Continental Elite 4060798 vs Continental Elite 4060802) & that could have been the problem . Amazon says for my 99 that the 802 was correct, but in reality I needed the 798 based on other forum threads and reviews . They are different by just 1/2 inch but that can be something (https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...4060802-a.html)... I needed to replace my tensioner anyways so I'm okay with spending the extra for a newer one. Hope that info helps for anyone's further purchases.

midnight01

I belong to quite a few other forums and although rehashing the same posts can get a little frustrating to people who see them all the time; it keeps the issue fresh in everyone's mind and you might get new information that others have not provided. I never saw a post where someone's issue got worse when they applied belt dressing. I saw the opposite or else I would have just let it go. I am replacing my drivers rear shock actuator tomorrow and in the process I am going to remove the belts and run the car for a minute to see if it is indeed my ac tensioner.