Changed all pulleys and went with the Gatorback and oh so quite !!!
Quick belt squeal question
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,611
Likes: 89
Quick belt squeal question
Have a bad squeal on my 99' I just bought. Sprayed belt dressing on the belt only. Squeal went right away. Started the car an hour later and the squeal is back. Could it be just the belt? Thank you.
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 197
Likes: 6
From: Lindstrom MN
St. Jude Donor '15, '17
It can be everything from the belt, idlers, tension pulleys, or the harmonic balancer. I put a Goodyear gator belt on and my squeal has disappeared. I will also be replacing my balancer in the next few weeks just for preventative maintenance.
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 187
Likes: 13
From: Port Ewen New York
I took both belts off and spun all pulleys and could hear a small amount of grinding on all of them and replaced them all. When I replaced the belts I used Dayco first (big mistake) went and put on the Gatorback and now zero issues !!
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 6,644
Likes: 479
From: OK
I've measured mine (3/4" from the steering rack to the front of the balancer) so I can keep track if it moves either direction on the shaft and also put a couple of lines across the face of the balancer so I can see if the outer ring is slipping... I am not going to mess with it unless the wobble gets progressively worse and or I see any movement...
we don't drive ours a lot either though... so, if we were going to take some big trip..I would think about it a pretty hard.
we don't drive ours a lot either though... so, if we were going to take some big trip..I would think about it a pretty hard.
Racer
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 479
Likes: 106
From: Beamsville Ontario
.....thought about going to a different belt, maybe Gatorback....but....remembered some very expensive water based silicone spray I purchased to lube my treadmill....nothing to lose....a quick squirt and..chirping gone
....now 600 miles or so later, still no chirping
And....I wouldn't have been able to do the HB without the assistance of you forum members you guys know your stuff....Cheers
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 150
Likes: 0
From: texas
2000 with 25k. Chirping belt and a very wobbly harmonic balancer. Changed the belt, Dayco I think, still chirping. Went ahead and changed the harmonic balancer, used an OEM spec Powerbond as well changed both tensioners, used the same belt....all back together....chirping is no better in fact it's almost squealing .....thought about going to a different belt, maybe Gatorback....but....remembered some very expensive water based silicone spray I purchased to lube my treadmill....nothing to lose....a quick squirt and..chirping gone....now 600 miles or so later, still no chirping
And....I wouldn't have been able to do the HB without the assistance of you forum members you guys know your stuff....Cheers
.....thought about going to a different belt, maybe Gatorback....but....remembered some very expensive water based silicone spray I purchased to lube my treadmill....nothing to lose....a quick squirt and..chirping gone....now 600 miles or so later, still no chirpingAnd....I wouldn't have been able to do the HB without the assistance of you forum members you guys know your stuff....Cheers
Racer
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 479
Likes: 106
From: Beamsville Ontario
when you say both tensioners, does that mean the a/c tensioner and the main belt tensioner or the idler pulley and the main belt tensioner? If I remember correctly, there are 2 pulleys involved on the main belt system (1 idler and 1 tensioner) and then one tensioner on the a/c belt. My point is could it be the a/c tensioner making the noise if you changed the 2 pulleys (idler/tensioner) on the main belt system? Just a thought as I chased the same issue a while back and part of my problem was a toasted a/c tensioner causing the noise. I know because I cut the a/c belt off (winter time) and no more noise.
Pro
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 697
Likes: 7
From: Kansas City Missouri
And is there a way to isolate which pulley it is?
You can use a water bottle and spray water at the point where the belt starts touching the pulley. If the sound stops, you have found the pulley that is going bad.
If you take the belt off, you can spin the pulley. If it spins freely then it's time to change it. I replaced both on my vette and after 10K miles the pulley will still only turn a few rotations before it stops. But ... the bearing on an old pulley will do the same thing, because it is getting ready to lock up.
It's worth it to just change them and forget about it.
JMO.
You can use a water bottle and spray water at the point where the belt starts touching the pulley. If the sound stops, you have found the pulley that is going bad.
If you take the belt off, you can spin the pulley. If it spins freely then it's time to change it. I replaced both on my vette and after 10K miles the pulley will still only turn a few rotations before it stops. But ... the bearing on an old pulley will do the same thing, because it is getting ready to lock up.
It's worth it to just change them and forget about it.
JMO.