Looking to swap my belt with a gatorback. Also hoping to diagnose my squeel problem. Anyone know of any writeups? I checked the tech tips here but nothing.

thanks.

 

sorry I can't help, but I need this info too!

 

I have had the same problems, here is what I have done nothing really official:

Isolate the belt causing the issue:

I loosened the main belt and started the engine (cold) for a few seconds, issue was present thus indicating AC belt.

Removed AC belt and spun the idler and tensioner, both were bad (bearings).

Replaced the tensioner (comes with pulley form GM) and the idler pulley. A note, both pulleys are the same so if the tensioner is good just purchase an extra AC idler pulley.

So in synopsis I replaced both belts (gator back), AC idler pulley and AC tensioner. All is well with no squeals, hope this helps.

The AC belt is a bit of a pain, I accessed it both from the under the car and from above to make sure it was on correctly. I also made sure the belt was under the tensioner pulley prior to install that way the wrench does not get in the way and you can flip the belt over the idler.

No issues on the main drive belt.

 

So when you say you loosened the main belt, where/how did you loosen it? and so it will remain on but loose correct?

also, how much for the AC idler pulley and tensioner?

thanks.

 

Use a 15mm wrench on the tensioner (upper passenger side) push to center of engine and let the belt slip off the pulley, it will then hang there, just make sure that it is loose on the balancer prior to starting (you will get a charge fault code, no alt) and listen to see if hear the noise. Do not run long.

Going off memory (a little hazy) the pulley was ~$30 and the tensioner w/ pulley was ~$60. They are high but there is also after market that is cheaper.

 

thanks for the info. i will try this out tomorrow morning and see what I can diagnose.

 

I replaced my OEM with the Goodyear Gatorback. It's a great improvement over the OEM belt.

Part# 4060798

 

Here's a couple pics of the belt arrangement that might help....getting ready to replace mine in a few days myself...

 

thanks. i will order a set, even though my current belts are about 2 years old.

anyone know the life expectancy of an oem belt?

That's exactly what I needed. thanks Jim. is that out of the repair manual? I think its about time I invested in a set.

 

it's real easy to do.

 

you almost don't need instructions... except you have to have it on right and the diagram above and/or the one under the hood are all you need>

 

having a breaker bar or ratchet with a knuckle joint helps.
When putting on the serpentine belt put it on all the pulleys with outer lips first....
the last pulley to slide it over is the smooth edged water pump pulley...(#4 in Z-06 Jims small diagram)
There is not enough slack to try and put it over one of the lipped pulleys last....


Here is a write-up from '05 by forum member 1NYCGUY

I have an A4 which seems to have a different setup than the M6. The only real difference is the cooling lines that cross infront of the a/c tension pully. I used a 15 MM socket to do all of the work. I also did everything from the top of the motor. You will need an offset socket handle to deal with the a/c belt. A regular socket wrench hits the water pump pulley so you need a flexible wrench.

The first step is to remove the large serpentine belt this is pretty straight forward. Simply put the socket wrench on the belt tension pulley located on the passenger side at the top of the motor. Push the wrench towards the drivers side of the motor and the belt will slip off pretty easy. Remove the belt from the motor. I have a 2000 which has a large ABS pump so I had to do some twisting of the belt to get it out from between the power steering pulley and the abs pump.

With that out of the way it is time to tackle the a/c belt. The belt runs from the a/c compressor and the drive shaft pulley and is squeezed tight between two pulley's. The lower pulley is the one that needs to be moved to relieve the tension.

On mine there are two steel cooling lines that cross right in front of the tension pulley bolt. There is a clip holds the two lines together. I popped the clip off one of the lines and was able to spread them apart enough to get the socket onto the bold. I had to put the socket on the bolt first and then insert the handle.

This is where you need to use the offset handle. Put the handle on and push the wrench towards the drivers side. The tension will relieve and you will be able to slip the belt off with relative ease. (the keyword being relative).

Ok that's the easy part. at the point you should have all the belts off.

At this point I took a wire brush and cleaned all the pulleys. This seems to be one of the key reasons why belts squeal. GM also advises against belt dressing. So I didn't use any.

Putting the a/c belt on is where the challenge came.

Slip the a/c belt onto the drive shaft pulley first. I then put the belt OVER the tensioner pulley. I also put the belt OVER the upper guide pulley. this allowed enough tension for me to slip the belt over the ac compressor.

Now after much trial and error I learned that it was smart to close my eyes and use my fingers to follow the path of the belt and make sure that it is on the drive shaft pulley all the way around. There is NO room for error. If it is off by the smallest amount the rest of this project is a nightmare.

Once you are sure that the belt is on its track it's time to reattach the socket and handle. Relieve the tension again and start to work the belt under the upper pulley. To visualize this the belt will be in an hourglass shape as it follows its path. This is where I had my biggest problem. I thought I had pushed the tensioner as far as it would go, but I still couldn't get enough slack to slip the upper part of the belt into place. Finally I pushed just a little further. The belt slipped into place and that was all she wrote. Once you are happy with the position of the belt. I would start the engine briefly and check to make sure the belt is tracking properly.

Then be sure to put the coolant lines back together and replace the clip so that they are back the way they were from the start.

Next it is time to put the serpentine belt back in place. Start at the alternator and then over the power steering pump etc. Finally back to the upper tensioner. Relieve the tension as before and slip the new belt into place.

That's it. Start it up and you are done. I have attached a picture of the belt path just in case you don't have one. I hope this helps. If you have any questions please feel free to PM me or post here. I am happy to help.

 

Thats a great write up posted by RWS.1

Here's a summary posted by E-T who was involved in the design of the C5, which explains how the belts and pulleys interact.

Belt Squeal Courtesy 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

 

thanks for all of the help. for the last few weeks I have tried spraying a little wd-40 on the belt near the alternator and it stops the squealing. but i will pull the main belt tomorrow and try to isolate the problem.

 

well i figured i would order a couple gatorbacks today while i was out. Only the a/c belt was in stock, which was about $17.00 The other belt had to be ordered and was $27 at autozone (Kragens wants $36). So I decided I would see what the a/c belt did for me and if needed i would buy the serpentine belt tomorrow.

Pulling the serpentine belt and putting it back on was a breeze. Putting the a/c belt on is a pain in the @$$. Just when you think that tensioner can't budge anymore, it does. It took me a while to figure it out. I was trying from the top of the car, then under, then the top, then under....etc. I got it on from the top of the car.

anyway, I fired her up and no squeek! I even drove it for a few minutes and all was good. I hope it stays that way. But I will still be ordering the serpentine gator back just to make myself feel better. I'd like to know that I have 2 brand new belts instead of 1.

Thanks to everyone for the help. That diagram was great to have.

Anyone considering doing a belt change in the future, save those diagrams posted above!

 

Well its been about a week and what do you know I have a belt chirp. The new gatorback a/c belt cured my squeek. Now im getting a chirping. I took the serpentine belt off the tensioner and started the car, noise went away. Im praying the serpentine gatorback will fix it!

 

It will.

 

thanks. squeeling, squeaking, or chirping has to be the most annoying sound to come from these cars. i rather listen to my squeaky brakes

 

I just replaced my main belt (non a/c) and thanks to the pics above, the job was easy. Too bad, bought a gm replacement before I read to by a gatorback. I didn't have any noise before...hopefully that stays the same with the new belt!!

Again, thanks for the hlpe CF!!

 

Another tip I always keep my old belts in one of the compartments. If your on a trip or a cruise and the belt breaks you've got a temporary replacement. I do this on all my vehicles and it has come in handy not for me but someone in our group