Famous Alternator squeal /sigh

[ACWgraphics]

Ok Ive read so many different forums about this topic. Ive went from a Autozone belt, to a gatorback belt, to a Mitsu oem belt. Replaced the Harmonic balancer with a new oem (I do have a forged block bored .20 over) not sure if i should get a fluidampr to fix this?

Everything is aligned correctly, pulleys are clean...... New nylon bolts to hold the alt in place...

Its really a loud squeal with the oem belt, the best luck i have had was with the gatorback it was a very low pitched squeal and was consent.

Been dealing with this for over a year, and every shop i take it to, same thing...

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Tighten it. It has to be very tight.

Anytime my alternator belt start to squeal, i tighten it and the squealing stops.

Check out this thread, http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/maintenance-repairs/355705-annoying-squeal.html, I thought my alternator belt was squealing but it turns out it was my front bumper all along. Sometimes it's not what it seems. That thread presents a A LOT of possible causes for squeals.

Hope this helps!

 

[ACWgraphics]

Thank you for the reply and the forward to your link, looks like the next thing for me to replace are the idler pulley and tensioner pulleys.

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Thank you for the reply and the forward to your link, looks like the next thing for me to replace are the idler pulley and tensioner pulleys.

You are welcome!

 

[ACWgraphics]

Ok idler pulley has been replaced with no luck, its definitely coming from the alternator belt. Ive had 4 different shops look at this problem countless times with no luck.

It started when the new motor was dropped in.

Does anyone know of a great shop in Michigan to take a DSM 2?

Ive had mine taken to

1 monkey wrench racing
2 speed industry
3 d&p auto
4 heads up racing

all with no luck =(

 

[ktgurl87]

i think the hubby told me that his belt squealed all the time because power steering fluid was dripping on it? that's another spot to check.

 

[92spoolin']

IF you don't have a squeal your lucky I've tightened mine and loosed it still nothing changes for some people its just like lifter tick totally depends on your car my 1g i'd tighten the belt and it would stop my 2g nothing will fix it I've been through 5 different belts nothing changes its just one of those things

 

[1badpurple]

I fixed my squeal with a smaller belt. It was a 285 I believe. Hard to put on but no squeal.

 

[Tanro]

I fixed mine with a shorter belt as well. You have to pull the alternator alllllll the way in to put it on but at least it s does not squeal.

 

[KKneipper]

Too tight can make it squeal too.

I do believe that you should be able to deflect the alt belt between 1/4" and 1/2" in the middle of the pulleys. I Just replaced my alternator a couple months ago, and found that it was best for me to leave the belt a little (and I mean A LITTLE) loose before I gave the bolts their final torque. As I tightened the piss out of those bolts, the belt got a little tighter. Took about 6 tries, but finally got the squeal to stop. And I can deflect the belt 3/8"...which Honda kids say is too loose, but it works great and it's quiet.

I would also do what KTgurl87 said about making sure there's no fluid dripping onto the belt. In addition to checking the PS pump and lines, you will want to make sure that your water pump isn't leaking. Since that same belt drives the water pump, coolant could be dripping on the belt. If you're missing the splash shield that goes down there, I would recommend getting one.

ALSO.... If you've recently replaced the alternator with a refurbished one that came with it's own pulley, there may be some paint globs on the pulley. I had to sand the rough spots with emery paper to make those grooves nice and smooth.

 

[1badpurple]

Actually no matter how you look at it, until I replaced the belt with the shorter one it would squeal upon first start up. I do have three of these cars and fixed the problem the same way on all three.

 

[ACWgraphics]

Right now the car is at D&P auto, the guy there really is doing all he can to help me out. He is saying with the saturn alternator and smaller pulley a smaller belt would not work and that the alternator would be hitting the block, he says belts come in 1/2" increments.

He is also saying that the squeal is happening when the alternator feilds, and that possibly changing out my cheap wal-mart battery may help this issue. I am going to get a optima red top to hopefully fix this issue.

He also called some pulley manufactures to see what they have to say and also is saying he once saw someone that changed out all there pulleys and belts to a ribbed type set-up kinda almost like a timing belt. If anyone has any information on this or knows were or who to talk to, to get this done i would appreciate it.

I will keep you all updated, and again thank you all for the posts, i appreciate all the help greatly. thank you!!

 

[staztrx250]

Ok Ive read so many different forums about this topic. Ive went from a Autozone belt, to a gatorback belt, to a Mitsu oem belt. Replaced the Harmonic balancer with a new oem (I do have a forged block bored .20 over) not sure if i should get a fluidampr to fix this?

Everything is aligned correctly, pulleys are clean...... New nylon bolts to hold the alt in place...

Its really a loud squeal with the oem belt, the best luck i have had was with the gatorback it was a very low pitched squeal and was consent.

Been dealing with this for over a year, and every shop i take it to, same thing...

I have been fighting this forever!!!!!! 2 thing that i found thought. I was my power steering pump that was loose and once i got that tight it fixed it....


For like three days

Ended up changing the crank pulley all the belts and putting valve grinding compound on all the pulleys/belts.

This worked really good for 6 months ish

my final conclusion was that the water pump pulley it the root cause of the problem.

My solution:

I getting rid of everything but the alternator should lesson the load on everything. No I'm not doing it because of squeal. I'm going for a super clean engine bay and power steering and ac are over rated

 

[ACWgraphics]

Ok new optima red top battery and still no luck =(, may try to replace the power steering to see if that will do it.

Has anyone heard of this clogged belt system? The shop says he can get the belts for it just need someone to clog the pulleys. This would definitely be a permanent fix.

 

[ninja07]

I just put on a new alternator belt today, the right combination of a good quality belt and the right tension will work. I used a Gates belt. I have no squeal on cold start up or running. Hope this helps.

 

[ColonelOdem]

Ok new optima red top battery and still no luck =(, may try to replace the power steering to see if that will do it.

Has anyone heard of this clogged belt system? The shop says he can get the belts for it just need someone to clog the pulleys. This would definitely be a permanent fix.

Are you talking about a Cogged belt? That would work great if you could get the length and cogs correct on both pulleys. a cogged system is like your timing belt and gears, they are notched to grab the gears instead of just relying on the tightness of the belt.

 

[unisonicz]

I read somewhere on tuners that a guy took some sand paper and ruffed up the grooves on the Alt pulley. He said it helped. Just an option.

 

[TunaTalon]

It started when the new motor was dropped in.

Did you replace the water pump? There have been several threads here about the water pump pulley being installed backwards. The same belt drives the water pump and the alternator.

 

[joe_mopar]

Try sand-blasting the pulleys. Worked for me.

 

[98mitsubishigst]

Haha, i have lifter tick at start up and a squeel at start up..
ive replaced the belt 2ce and itll go away for a while and come right back haha
its a curse.. =P deal with it! ..

 

[jlr2196]

I haven't seen anyone mention the alternator itself...I had the same issues as well for over a year, tried different belts, tension, disconnected the power steering belt just to make sure it wasn't that, etc. etc..I figured since I had a fresh reman'd alternator that had less than 10K miles on it that there was no chance that was the problem. I even had the alternator tested and it tested fine, well a year later I finally replaced it with an alternator from a 60K jdm engine and problem solved!!!