Mysterious squeal by belts

[DarthBulk]

Here is the deal. My new engine has about 1300 miles on it now. About 400 miles ago, I started hearing a squeal by the belt area when I would start the car. It would only squeal during a cold start, for maybe 10 to 20 seconds. There was never a squeal after that initial squeal during a cold start. Subsequent warm starts have no squeal, and there is never a squeal while driving no matter how hard it is driven. The engine seems to idle just fine during the squeal, but after the squeal stops (it will abruptly just stop) the engine seems to pick up a few RPM and idle even smoother. Here is what I have done to try and find out what is causing this:

Re-tensioned all the belts, and they are tensioned properly.
Checked the crank pulley for slippage at the rubber joint. I drew a line with a marker from the inner hub, across the rubber, to the outer part. I ran the engine, listened to the squeal for a minute, turned off the engine, and found the line is still lined up perfectly.
Inspected the belts. Can't see evidence of slippage.

So, any ideas what could be causing this mysterious squeal? I do still have the AC compressor on the engine, even though no hoses are connected to it (but the belt is).

 

[plymubishi]

Did you try putting new belts on just to see if its helps? My alt. belt used to do that and still looked fine but was just old I guess. Changed it and it hasn't made a sound since. Proably the only thing that ever went right for me when opening my hood.

 

[DarthBulk]

I haven't tried that yet, but I guess it is a fairly cheap thing to try.

 

[rich3389]

I'm having a similiar problem, when i replaced my alt. i replaced all belts. The first two starts no squeals at all, now every time i start it it squeal really loud for about 20 seconds and slowly goes away. I've checked the belts tensiona nd they are fine, i tried tightenening and loosening all belts and made no differance at all. I'm stumped why new belts would be doing this and tightening nor loosening made no effect whatsever.

 

[DarthBulk]

That sounds like the same problem all right. Even looking at that end of the engine while the squeal is happening, I can't tell where it is coming from.

 

[rich3389]

yea it sucks, it so embaressing, i have no idea what it could be on new belts that are all tight.

 

[luv2rallye]

I'm having a similiar problem, when i replaced my alt. i replaced all belts. The first two starts no squeals at all, now every time i start it it squeal really loud for about 20 seconds and slowly goes away. I've checked the belts tensiona nd they are fine, i tried tightenening and loosening all belts and made no differance at all. I'm stumped why new belts would be doing this and tightening nor loosening made no effect whatsever.

Check your harmonic balancer for separation and incorrect movement (http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169254&highlight=harmonic+balancer).

 

[MollEclipse]

Use a bar of soap and put some on the belts if they stop quealing then that was the problem. Do them one at a time so you can find out which one it is. Like do the A/C one one morning then the ALT. another. Try it it really works.



Ben

 

[DarthBulk]

Use a bar of soap and put some on the belts if they stop quealing then that was the problem. Do them one at a time so you can find out which one it is. Like do the A/C one one morning then the ALT. another. Try it it really works.



Ben

I've seen guys do this with a crayon as well. I'll give the soap a try, and if I can get the squeal to stop, at least I'll know which belt or belt system is causing the squeal.

 

[mjboehm]

try using belt dressing. what kind of belts are they

 

[plymubishi]

I've found belt dressing to make problems worse, I would stick with the soap trick or a penetrating fluid(like wd-40)

 

[DarthBulk]

I've used belt dressing on v-belts, and it has helped them, but I've found that squealing on flat serpentine style belts is usually because the belt runs a little crooked on the pulley. In that case, the belt dressing can make the noise louder because it makes the belt stickier on the pulley. But I don't know yet what is causing my squeal. I'll try the soap this weekend, and see if I can narrow down what is causing the problem.

 

[Gs Dewd]

I had that problem on my 2g and found there was crud built up in the groves of the pulleys. After some brake clean and a wire brush the problem was gone.

 

[rich3389]

It turns out my squeling prblem was because the alt. belt wasn't sitting on the pullies flush, on the new alt. i got, there was a spacer and it was pushed the wrong way making the alt. sit crooked, so I fix that and go to drive home, and my brand new alt. takes a crap on me like 30 miles from home on the highway. So i spent all day today getting a alt. and putting it on and it seems ok for now i hope

 

[DarthBulk]

Where was this spacer on your alternator?

 

[Gamble97]

I have this same problem, although I think it's my power steering pulley.

 

[rich3389]

The spacer was on the part of the altinater that the long bolt goes through.

 

[DarthBulk]

I found I never posted the solution to this problem. I found that it was the alternator belt that was squealing, and it would squeal no matter how tight I tensioned it. So I took it off, and inspected it. The belt I had was a Gates "Micro V" belt. It has four "V" ridges that are supposed to sit in the pulley grooves on the alternator. It appears these "V" ridges are too narrow for my alternator pulley, and don't get a good friction grip on the pulley. So I bought a Goodyear Gatorback alternator belt, and installed it. It has a different pattern on the surface that runs against the pulley. Now the squeal is gone.