Squealing belt(s)
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 550
Likes: 53
From: Fort Myers Florida
Squealing belt(s)
hey guys quick question,
I had a mechanic look at my balancer as I thought I had the infamous shake of death and it turns out it is acting normal but I replaced the serpentine belt and had a very small squeal that sounded like little chirps constantly. So me being the moron decided to put some belt dressing on to see if it would make the crickets go away. It made it WORSE lol.
Now at idle it is non existant but once I give it gas it sounds like several cats are fighting under my hood. Is it possible my belt tensioner(s) decided to go on me? It does it warm or cold, thanks for the help ahead of time
its a 01 C5 coupe 132k miles
I had a mechanic look at my balancer as I thought I had the infamous shake of death and it turns out it is acting normal but I replaced the serpentine belt and had a very small squeal that sounded like little chirps constantly. So me being the moron decided to put some belt dressing on to see if it would make the crickets go away. It made it WORSE lol.
Now at idle it is non existant but once I give it gas it sounds like several cats are fighting under my hood. Is it possible my belt tensioner(s) decided to go on me? It does it warm or cold, thanks for the help ahead of time
its a 01 C5 coupe 132k miles
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 121
Likes: 12
From: Lancaster Ohio
hey guys quick question,
I had a mechanic look at my balancer as I thought I had the infamous shake of death and it turns out it is acting normal but I replaced the serpentine belt and had a very small squeal that sounded like little chirps constantly. So me being the moron decided to put some belt dressing on to see if it would make the crickets go away. It made it WORSE lol.
Now at idle it is non existant but once I give it gas it sounds like several cats are fighting under my hood. Is it possible my belt tensioner(s) decided to go on me? It does it warm or cold, thanks for the help ahead of time
its a 01 C5 coupe 132k miles
I had a mechanic look at my balancer as I thought I had the infamous shake of death and it turns out it is acting normal but I replaced the serpentine belt and had a very small squeal that sounded like little chirps constantly. So me being the moron decided to put some belt dressing on to see if it would make the crickets go away. It made it WORSE lol.
Now at idle it is non existant but once I give it gas it sounds like several cats are fighting under my hood. Is it possible my belt tensioner(s) decided to go on me? It does it warm or cold, thanks for the help ahead of time
its a 01 C5 coupe 132k miles
There's a member here on the forum who has a Youtube channel and does a very good job demonstrating the procedure. Just do a search for Froggy and you'll find his videos. I have learned a lot from watching his videos.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 495
Likes: 36
From: Houston Texas
Wow bro! This exact thing just happened to me today! I changed the serpentine belt from dayco to gaterbelt a couple of days ago. All of a sudden I hear squeaking bad today. Not when it's idling but only when I push the gas. I tried to check in my driveway/try to do process of elimination with each pulley and I immediately thought it was the harmonic balancer being the problem. Especially with all the talk of the vettes being notorious for it going bad. (I pray it's not). I took it to a local loyal mechanic to just give it a listen and he said it's probably the tensioner. I talked to the previous owner and he said that he changed all the pulleys besides this one so it makes sense. I went to o Reilly's and ordered a Gates tensioner and pulley. Install seems super easy. I will do it tomorrow. I pray that this is the solution. If not then it may be the harmonic balancer 
Last edited by Christian327; Feb 5, 2016 at 09:54 PM.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 550
Likes: 53
From: Fort Myers Florida
Wow bro! This exact thing just happened to me today! I changed the serpentine belt from dayco to gaterbelt a couple of days ago. All of a sudden I hear squeaking bad today. Not when it's idling but only when I push the gas. I tried to check in my driveway/try to do process of elimination with each pulley and I immediately thought it was the harmonic balancer being the problem. Especially with all the talk of the vettes being notorious for it going bad. (I pray it's not). I took it to a local loyal mechanic to just give it a listen and he said it's probably the tensioner. I talked to the previous owner and he said that he changed all the pulleys besides this one so it makes sense. I went to o Reilly's and ordered a Gates tensioner and pulley. Install seems super easy. I will do it tomorrow. I pray that this is the solution. If not then it may be the harmonic balancer
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 550
Likes: 53
From: Fort Myers Florida
I had a similar issue with my 02 Z06. I ended up replacing both the main serpentine belt and the A/C belt. I also replaced the tensioner. I also removed all the idler pulleys, cleaned and re-lubricated them. Each time I changed something the squeaking diminished, but it didn't go completely away until I lubed the pulleys.
There's a member here on the forum who has a Youtube channel and does a very good job demonstrating the procedure. Just do a search for Froggy and you'll find his videos. I have learned a lot from watching his videos.
There's a member here on the forum who has a Youtube channel and does a very good job demonstrating the procedure. Just do a search for Froggy and you'll find his videos. I have learned a lot from watching his videos.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 550
Likes: 53
From: Fort Myers Florida
i used a duralast, it didnt start chirping until I put some stupid belt dressing on it. It had a very small chirping noise before, but after the dressing it got extremely louder.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 495
Likes: 36
From: Houston Texas
Originally Posted by midnight01
i used a duralast, it didnt start chirping until I put some stupid belt dressing on it. It had a very small chirping noise before, but after the dressing it got extremely louder.
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Racer
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 495
Likes: 36
From: Houston Texas
Just replaced the tensioner, easiest job in the world...bad news is noise came back as soon as I turned up the rpm. If I give the belt a quick spray of water, the noise stops. I'm going to try a new belt and see if the old one was defective (Hail Mary). if not then I'm dread that it's the harmonic balancer and will take it to a corvette shop for confirmation.
Last edited by Christian327; Feb 6, 2016 at 09:14 PM.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 550
Likes: 53
From: Fort Myers Florida
Just replaced the tensioner, easiest job in the world...bad news is noise came back as soon as I turned up the rpm. If I give the belt a quick spray of water, the noise stops. I'm going to try a new belt and see if the old one was defective (Hail Mary). if not then I'm almost certain it's the harmonic balancer and will take it to a corvette shop for confirmation.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 495
Likes: 36
From: Houston Texas
Originally Posted by midnight01
Not good, my squeal has gotten less now and I might have pinpointed it to the AC tensioner as the noise when it is low rpm sounds like something is getting stuck, it squeals then stops for a few seconds then starts again and sometimes it does the same thing slower and sometimes faster, I think a bearing is going in one of the pulley's because it's a metallic noise not a belt noise.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 550
Likes: 53
From: Fort Myers Florida
Ok so update: Had auto zone replace my previous old dayco belt for free, put that one on and took the gator back off. So far so good, just drove around a bit...no squeal or anything. Maybe when I sprayed the continental belt, i over did it & messed it up or maybe it has something to do with the dayco size belt vs the continental belt, not sure. Oh, and now that you mention AC tensioner, that's what I started thinking today. Now that noise is gone, will have to keep that in mind. Will keep yall updated if anything arises.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 5,278
Likes: 539
From: Kelowna BC
If you ever think its the HB, remove both belts and run it for a bit. Won't do any harm for a few minutes... if the noise goes way it's something else. Noise stays and, well... only the HB would be turning.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 495
Likes: 36
From: Houston Texas
Originally Posted by grantv
If you ever think its the HB, remove both belts and run it for a bit. Won't do any harm for a few minutes... if the noise goes way it's something else. Noise stays and, well... only the HB would be turning.
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,957
Likes: 342
From: Shell Point (Crawfordville) Florida
You are not getting many responses to this question because there are innumerable threads on this forum about how to diagnose and resolve this issue. Do a search on here or a Google search for a squeaking or chirping belt and your questions will be answered.
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 121
Likes: 12
From: Lancaster Ohio
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,957
Likes: 342
From: Shell Point (Crawfordville) Florida
If you think that anecdotal stories are helpful responses and feedback, then look no further, but if you want some real good advice and real help, then follow my advice and do a decent search. Otherwise, replace every possible part, serpentine and AC belts, (with the correct recommended belt), main belt and AC belt idler and tensioner pulleys, harmonic balancer, water pump, PS pump, alternator, and you'll eventually stop the squeal.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 495
Likes: 36
From: Houston Texas
As a heads up...upon further research and thinking. I believe I bought the wrong continental belt (Continental Elite 4060798 vs Continental Elite 4060802) & that could have been the problem . Amazon says for my 99 that the 802 was correct, but in reality I needed the 798 based on other forum threads and reviews 
. They are different by just 1/2 inch but that can be something (https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...4060802-a.html)... I needed to replace my tensioner anyways so I'm okay with spending the extra for a newer one. Hope that info helps for anyone's further purchases.
. They are different by just 1/2 inch but that can be something (https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...4060802-a.html)... I needed to replace my tensioner anyways so I'm okay with spending the extra for a newer one. Hope that info helps for anyone's further purchases.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 550
Likes: 53
From: Fort Myers Florida
I belong to quite a few other forums and although rehashing the same posts can get a little frustrating to people who see them all the time; it keeps the issue fresh in everyone's mind and you might get new information that others have not provided. I never saw a post where someone's issue got worse when they applied belt dressing. I saw the opposite or else I would have just let it go. I am replacing my drivers rear shock actuator tomorrow and in the process I am going to remove the belts and run the car for a minute to see if it is indeed my ac tensioner.