ONce you have sprayed a belt ( only the belt not the pulleys with water and think you have identified the offending belt....
take the offending belt off, the chirp should go away... If it doesn't its the other belt system. Chirp can be either from the belts or the pulleys.
With the belt off, hand turn each of the pulleys involved. They should spin freely with no wobble. If they wobble or feel gritty you have found your culprit. For the harmonic balancer, you will have to watch it as the car runs to detect wobble.
Follow these other CF threads for tips and how to's on changing out the belts Eveil-Twins post as usual is very helpful...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...elt&forum_id=1

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...elt&forum_id=1

 

belt tensioner, and you'll have to replace it again in a couple of years

 

Does the chirp diminish or completly go away after a few minutes? If so, check for seepage from the front seal of the water pump. It tends to collect inside the waterpump pulley, then when started it gets on the serpentine belt making it chatter or chirp. Especially noticeable if you have a Vette that sits all week then driven on weekends, it gives the coolant time to seep and collect.
Have you noticed any small puddles under the center of the car on the floor? How's the coolant level in the expansion reservoir?
Belt contamination by coolant or something else is where I would begin looking.

 

Well worth the time to read.....you're not alone I have same issue......

 

You have two belt systems on your car. One is the drive belt system, the other is the air conditioner belt system.
The drive belt system consists of the serpentine belt,the power steering pump, alternator/gen, water pump, harmonic balancer, idler pulley,belt auto tensioner pulley.
The AC belt system consists of the compressor, harmonic balancer,idler pulley, belt auto tensioner pulley.
First thing you need to do is isolate which system is squeaking. this can be done by releasing tension on the drive belt tensioner and removing the serp belt. This is the outboard belt of the two belt systems..if the squeak goes away, then it is the belt or a component of the drive system.
If the squeak is still there, then it is a component of the ac belt system.
to verify this release the belt tension from the tensioner and remove the belt. if the squeak goes away, then it is a component of the ac belt system..
A common problem is the belt tensioner on either system.. but verifying which system is at fault is the proper procedure.
You could replace both belts, but you may still have the squeak. So if you want to find the culprit, isolate the system, then spray the belt of the offending system and see if the squeak goes away. Try to stay away from the idler and tensioner while spaying..
I find that belt dressing may be good to identify a belt problem, but it is a temporary fix at best..
The real problem has been the tensioner and the idler.. both of these components have a sealed bearing which has been know to dry up or redirect the grease away from the bearing, thus causing the squeak.
If you find that a belt change does not correct the problem, then a change of both the idler and tensioner pulley is in order. If you just change the idler or the tensioner alone, it will cause the other component to go bad in a month or so. This has been the case with many members..There was a change made to the dusts seals to help correct this problem in newer C5's.
Lots of tensioner and idler pulleys have been identified as a problem.. and it can effect either system. One is not more prevalent than the other. So find out which system is squeaking first, in the drive belt system, it could also be the bearing of the alternator, power steering pump, or water pump too, but these are less probable.
I hope this makes things alittle clearer

 

Thanks for the explanation!

I am going to find a way to save for when I need it.

 

Thanks everyone for the info.

 

I had the same problem in my 98 coupe. Changed both tensioners, but that did not do it. I got a gatorback belt and that did the trick.
If you need parts try fred beans or ken fitchner both have good deals on parts for your vette.
Good luck, I know how aggravating that squeak can be. made me not even want to drive the vette with that problem.

 

If the harmonic balancer is wobbling, you need to look into fixing that. I replaced the idler pulley too, just to cover everything.