Cold start only - Squeal on belt/pulley
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
Cold start only - Squeal on belt/pulley
2008 LT3,
Only on a cold start - there is a chirp/squeal that you can hear with the rotation of the belt or a pulley which sounds near the drivers side of the engine.
After driving for 10 minutes it goes away. Is this something to be worried about? The sound is quite irritating.
Only on a cold start - there is a chirp/squeal that you can hear with the rotation of the belt or a pulley which sounds near the drivers side of the engine.
After driving for 10 minutes it goes away. Is this something to be worried about? The sound is quite irritating.
#2
Take it to a mechanic you trust and they can use a stethoscope to locate the source. The fact that the noise goes away after warming is a sign it is a pulley bearing or belt issue. If that is the case then should be an easy fix. Either way just get it taken care of... don't want to let it go longer in case it is something more serious.
#5
Former Vendor
Yeah, it could be several things depending on your miles and use. Usually its not a problem other than being annoying, but is good to check it out just in case.
It could be something as simple as a dirty serpentine belt (oils, soap, waxes, etc) that is causing it.
You can take a normal bar of soap and extremely carefully while it is running, hold the soap to the belt as it spins for about 5 seconds, inside and outside and see if it quiets down.
If it stays gone, could have just been dirty. If it comes back, you may need a new belt, but first look at your harmonic balancer and other pulleys while the engine is running to see any wobble, vibration, shake or anything of the sort. As psp6158 said, it is a pretty common problem in Corvettes; the rubber that holds the two balancer halves together becomes weak and starts to come apart, allowing the outer half to disorient and wobble, which "shakes" the belt back and forth, which often causes a belt squeal. The squeal usually does go away after things have warmed up a bit.
If it doesn't change with the bar of soap, you probably have a bad pulley bearing. As MARSC6 mentioned, you can turn the idler and tensioner pulley by hand with the belt off to see if there are any rough spots in the bearing. Usually don't see too many problems with the other pulleys (water pump, alternator, steering pump, etc).
Feel free give us a call, email, or PM anytime!
Thanks,
- Jeremy
Click HERE to send me a PM | Sales@jdpmotorsports.com | www.jdpmotorsports.com | JDP Facebook | 888.308.6007
It could be something as simple as a dirty serpentine belt (oils, soap, waxes, etc) that is causing it.
You can take a normal bar of soap and extremely carefully while it is running, hold the soap to the belt as it spins for about 5 seconds, inside and outside and see if it quiets down.
If it stays gone, could have just been dirty. If it comes back, you may need a new belt, but first look at your harmonic balancer and other pulleys while the engine is running to see any wobble, vibration, shake or anything of the sort. As psp6158 said, it is a pretty common problem in Corvettes; the rubber that holds the two balancer halves together becomes weak and starts to come apart, allowing the outer half to disorient and wobble, which "shakes" the belt back and forth, which often causes a belt squeal. The squeal usually does go away after things have warmed up a bit.
If it doesn't change with the bar of soap, you probably have a bad pulley bearing. As MARSC6 mentioned, you can turn the idler and tensioner pulley by hand with the belt off to see if there are any rough spots in the bearing. Usually don't see too many problems with the other pulleys (water pump, alternator, steering pump, etc).
Feel free give us a call, email, or PM anytime!
Thanks,
- Jeremy
Click HERE to send me a PM | Sales@jdpmotorsports.com | www.jdpmotorsports.com | JDP Facebook | 888.308.6007
Last edited by JDP Tech; 11-28-2014 at 12:33 PM.