I have read a few of the belt squeak threads here but mine is a bit unique.

Earlier today, I had used seafoam on my engine.As I was pouring it into the manifold side,a bit of it spilled out and fell somewhere onto my engine block.My guess is it hit the headers or something because there was smoke everywhere when it spill out.

With that in mind here is my dilemma.before I used the seafoam, I did not notice a belt squeak.Though I was not paying a 100% attention, I am fairly certain it happened after the I used the seafoam because if the squeak was there, wouldn't I have noticed?Anyway, I stopped over at autozone and picked up some belt dressing in a aerosol can and sprayed it all over the belt.Previously,the squeak was only coming from higher RPMS.My guess is about 4000+.After I used the dressing,it starts at about 2000.

On a slight side note, I have looked into my engine bay and I have seen some stuff that was unusual to me.I am not the most engine savvy person so bear with me if this is normal.first, the tensioner pulley was shaking a little bit.A buddy who helped me seafoam told me this is normal due to the fact that it is the tensioner.Second,the biggest pulley on the engine block(bottom center of the engine) seems to be shaking.Is this normal as well?

Anyone want to give me a diagnosis?Would a belt change fix this?I do find this very awkward that it starts squeaking right after I used the seafoam.

 

no one can help me?

 

One of the former members, E-T, posted a great description of how the belts are configured. It may answer your question as to which belt or pulley is the culprit.


Belt Squeal Courtesy of E-T

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 serpentine belt. This is the outboard belt of the two belt systems. If the squeak goes away, then it’s the belt or a component of the drive system.

If the squeak is still there, then it’s 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’s 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. 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 spraying. 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 affect 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 a little clearer

 

The biggest pulley on the engine is the balancer, it should not wobble or shake. My belt squeaked on a 2000 that I had and I sprayed a bit of Armour All on it and it went away never too return. The tensioner pulley is supposed to move a bit back and forth. Good luck.

 

after I had posted this thread, I asked some people about te harmonic balancer and they said it should only wobble a little bit.

 

You better check that balancer real good. I read a recent post on it, try the "search" mode. It could be a costly problem if it lets loose!
Also, if you are messing around with the belts, use the Goodyear "gator back" belts for min. squeeking.