Crazy belt squeal

[gusu]

So the other day I bought all new belts because they had been destroyed when my AC pulley's nut fell off and the belt wrapped its self around the other belts.

Anyway, today I hear the most ungodly squeal from the belts. So I opened the hood and noticed about a 1/8th of an inch had been scrapped off the power steering belt from rubbing on the alternator tensioner, and not just the bolt but the bracket (box looking thing) that both bolts go into (The one that bolts it to the alternator).

What's really odd is no matter how I moved the PS pump, even all the way back it would not stop rubbing the tensioner. When I went to adjust the tension on the alternator it was as tight as it would go so I couldn't make any room at all for the tensioner to stop rubbing on the PS belt from that end.

I don't know if anyone has encountered this problem before but I just find it very odd it would randomly decide to do this crap when it was fine all week. Now there seems to be no possible way to get them to not rub. I also noticed the alternator tensioner bracket that bolts to the block (The long bracket that bolts near the water pump and is kind of boomerang shaped) would not have the "fork" on the end hit the tensioner bolt no matter how much I would attempt to move the alternator... it never had a problem before. I 110% remember that it was indeed on that stupid little bastard fork the last time I tightened the belt because it was such a bitch to hold the other end of the bolt while trying to adjust the tension.


Anyway, does this make sense to anyone or is some damn magical elf playing a trick on me and making my car defy physics and logic?

[007jimmy]

I did this once. I put the alt tensioner bolt on the wrong way and it wore a groove in my power steering belt. It was a perfect groove in the middle of the belt. Flipped the alt tensioner over so the threaded part faced down and no more issues. Which way does the threaded alt tensioner face upwards or downwards?

BTW from my past experiances with the poor design of the alternator tensioner(boomerang shaped bracket) is to tack weld a washer onto the end of the fork so the long bolt cant slip out as your tightening it or when the belt stretches a little and thats what it sounds like happened in your case. You can also bent the fork a little at the tips to hold the bolt better. Im thinkings about figuring out a way to use a small tierod type adjuster rather then that boomerang adjuster. That will probably come when I get a polished power steering resivour though.

[92mitsubishi]

You could cut the bolt down or buy a longer belt

[gusu]

Was that on a 1g or a 2g? I could see how I could possibly mount the bracket upside down but then youd never get it tensioned in the first place. I also don't believe you could ever clear the PS pulley or belt with the tensioner upside down.

I've also already chopped the bolt a bit shorter lol.

[PANDARESCUE]

Could you post up a pic of the area please

[gusu]

I would, but I'm at work. I will be pulling it all apart tomorrow and trying to figure it out.

[007jimmy]

its possible to have the boomerang upsidedown and for it look perfectly normal.. You can see the alternator and bracket at the bottom right.. IF its upside down youll have that "house" shaped block between the alternator ear and the adjuster arm making the threaded rod point upwards at the threaded end..

[gusu]

If the boomerang was installed upside down, since the "ears" where the bolt gets tension from wouldn't the "ears" be facing downward?

Anyway, I got all my belts back on and to the tension that is called for. However my alternator belt screams like a banshee. I did confirm it is my alternator belt by running it for a second, then touching the top/bottom of the belts to feel if they were warm, the alternator belt was HOT.

So I untensioned the alternator and spun the alternator pulley, it spun fine and smooth. After I did confirm it was spinning smooth I put the belt back on and tensioned it down, then ran my fingers across the groves of the pulleys to confirm they were lining up, and they were. I also started the car back up and checked the water pump pulley to see if it was wobbling and it was not. It of course did not fix the problem.

[007jimmy]

did you check how you have the block bolted to the tensioner? it could be worng causing the belt to track wrong

[Rs AWD]

did you get oil on the belt when you were installing it?? the smallest amount of oil will cause the belt to slip and not spin at the same speed as your crankshaft. i would go to the store get some brake clean spray it down and check again... i had it work for me the other day on a mustang. put the belt on with some oil on my hand and it squealed something horrible..

[gusu]

Originally Posted by Rs AWD

did you get oil on the belt when you were installing it?? the smallest amount of oil will cause the belt to slip and not spin at the same speed as your crankshaft. i would go to the store get some brake clean spray it down and check again... i had it work for me the other day on a mustang. put the belt on with some oil on my hand and it squealed something horrible..

I don't believe I did, but my motor has never been cleaned in the 22 years since it rolled off the factory floor. So it is possible, I have some throttle body cleaner, I know it's slightly different than brake cleaner... would it work?





*update* Well, I took everything off and used everyone's suggestions. It finally stopped squealing. I wish I could have pinpointed the problem to let future DSMers who may be lead here through search know what actually fixed it, but since something someone suggested on here fixed it in the end the information is indeed in this thread.

However I will add since I couldn't tack weld on a washer to the tensioner bolt, I instead put on a large width washer to make sure the bolt can not slip off. I used a copper one as well since copper likes to practically weld itself to shit anyway.

[Rs AWD]

well glad the problem left you...