About this time each year, colder weather with moisture/rain etc, I occassionally hear a squeaky noise coming from the area of the drive belt tensioner in my 1998 C5 with 72,000 miles. Had the tensioner and drive belt idler replaced in April this year, as well as putting on a new gatorback serpentine belt. This only occurs when it gets cold. Anyone else experiencing anything similar? If so, how was it resolved? Thanks

 

Same here I am going to be replacing my belt, that is the only thing I think it would be.

 

It may be in the A/C parts now. There is another idler, tensioner, and belt to look at.

You wouldn't happen to know the part number of the Gatorback belt you used would you?

There are a few similar length belts that will fit the system. Generally you want to go with the shortest one that will do the job. Supposedly this quiets things down and aids the damper in removing vibrations.

 

Yeah....same here only when it's cold and moist out. I just replaced the accessory belt tensioner too as I saw it wobbling. The AC tensioner seems okay but I THINK I am seeing a very small wobble on the crank pulley (HB)......crap...hope not.

I'm going to go all "old school" on it and hold a short piece of garden hose to my ear and CAREFULLY listen at the different pulleys while it's running. Pinpoint it.

Probably should replace the AC belt anyway though as a start.

 

If it is only when wet then it may not be the same as mine. I had a chirpy belt for 2 days then discovered my ballancer bolt had come loose and the ballancer was moving forward...Caught it before somthing bad happened like it coming completly off. Good idea to ensure your belt is in all of the grooves on the ballancer.

Also...found this on w aebsite:
When your belt displays any of the following:
-squeals when accelerating.
-chirps constantly
-squeals constantly
-squeals when wet or moist outside
-squeals when cold
-or any combination of the above.

The belt must be replaced, but wait... If you replace the belt it may stop for a while but then the noise comes back. This is because the old belt was slipping and has polished the pulleys or "glazed" them. So before you replace that noisy belt scrub all of the pulleys well with a scotch brite pad, or a good wire brush to remove the glaze and rough up the surface. Clean them off with brake cleaner afterward. Belts work by friction so if the surface is polished too much the belt will slip. If you have already put on a new belt and it is making noise, -sorry you must buy a new one again. Slipping on the pulleys will glaze a new belt fast which ruins it. Some people say you can apply brake cleaner etc to a new belt to fix it but that may not work well. If it slips it will just mess up your newly cleaned pulleys and you will have to scrub them up all over again. So do the job right and rough up the pulleys AND replace the belt at the same time.

 

My vote is AC belt and tensioner. If you replaced the main serp belt tensioner, you should have gone ahead and done the AC tensioner too.

 

Thanks everyone. definately good info to consider, as I will proceed with replacing the AC belt and tensioner.

 

Yup...just did my AC idler and tensioner last week bearings shot and spun like a roller blade....pain in the butt to get the tensioner off and on on auto with stupid trans line in way and not fun to put the belts back on either. But...so quiet now and done for winter!!

 

Well if it matters mine sounds like an over grown Sanger sewing machine.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. Had the AC belt and tensioner replased today, and everything is quiet once again.