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Has anyone ever had problem with the accessories belt making noise, squealing. Since buying car a few years ago I’ve replaced and repaired lots , some of it was preventive maintenance, so, the water pump, power steering pump, belt tensioner, and idlers, and rebuilt a/c . Was having a bit of a belt squeal, I’ve tried 3 different belt brands, the last one is factory brand $92.00. When I installed it, things were whisper quiet, until I upgraded the cooling fans and bypassed coolant past throttle body. When I started it the belt is louder than ever! Is there something in dex- cool that kills even new belts? I’m a retired usaf aircraft mechanic so I am it, and I don’t know a good mechanic . I let a dealer replace the harmonic balancer 2 years ago....it was coming apart. If I spray a little water on it the squeal goes away. Any one ever here of this problem, and what is causing it? Any help would be much appreciated. I just replaced the clutch and rebuilt torque tube parts, anxious to drive it but a Vette with loud squeal is not cool. Jeff99
Last edited by Jeff99; 11-21-2018 at 01:59 AM.
Reason: grammer
The only belts I've ever been happy with were Goodyear Gatorback now called Continental Elite. Just about every other brand I've used eventually starts to chirp or squeak especially when under a load or AC cycling.
You have two Serp belts. One is the drive belt, the other is the AC belt. Each has a tensioner and an Idler. First you have to determine which belt is the culprit. this is done by removing one belt while the noise is present. It will tell you if the one you removed stopped the noise or the noise still remains pointing to it as the culprit. Its usually Not the belt but its the alignment. Some belts are more forgiving with alignment. The idlers do not cause misalignment, its usually the tensioners since they are a weak link as they rotate to add tension. over time this rotation causes an alignment problem. Cheap Tensioners ( when I say cheap, I mean after market ) AC Delco tensioners are the best choice. ) many people will replace the bearing on the tensioners but not the tensioner itself.. This is where I would look first. Gates and Gatorback are the most forgiving for this alignment problem because of their design. If the alignment of all the components are in alignment, any belt will work.. AS the tensioner rotates in tension it causes radial and lateral play in the tensioner causing the belt to hit the sides of the pully.
I hope this helps with understanding the root cause.
I know a few things because I have seen a few things.
Check closely the harmonic balancer which commonly fails due to wobble and causes this type of problem..
Outer ring slippage can make a chirping/squealing sound too. I've already replaced one factory balancer, and put a paint line across the other car's so I can keep an eye on it.
Are you still having problem? When I put the belt on that I got from dealer...$92 it was quite for awhile then noisy again.
That's what I went through also. Lasted around a year. Bought Continental Elite belts, they're going on 4 years, daily driven, not a noise. That said, you could have something else causing the noise...
11-21-2018, 12:28 AM
Noisy accessorie belt
