Annoying belt squeal!

[TallestHERETIC]

This belt squeal is really annoying! Did lots of searching on here but still cant find the right answer.

I have a '99 GSX. I recently changed all the drive/accesory belts because I thought it would make the squeal go away. The old belts were pretty beat up, too. There is LESS squeal now that I changed it but it is still there. It used to squeal all the time.

The squeal now only happens when the engine has sat and is cold. It also happens whenever I use my heater or drive with the heater on. When it warms up, there is no squeal, even with the heater on!

It only has 92K so I'm lost now on what to do. Could any of the pulleys for the belts be on their way out at this mileage?

There is old oil on the block but it hasn't touched the belt, BTW.

 

[pauleyman]

You sure the belts are tight enough?

 

[volcomsnow245]

Make sure you properly tensioner the belts first. When I replaced my timing belt the squel went away maybe one of your pulleys are worn. I would look into that if you haven't replaced your timing belt recently. Also see if the noise is coming from the power steering pulley sometimes mine would squel there too because that belt wasn't adjusted properly.

 

[luv2rallye]

Check for Harmonic balancer separation: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/art...lace-your-crank-pulley-harmonic-balancer.html.

 

[nek]

I agree with the belts. Usually its either the powersteering needs to be tighter or the alt needs to be tighter.. Its not hard to listen and figure out which one is making the noise. Both are easy to fix.

 

[Pwrtrip75]

Poor quality belt maybe? I know I just replaced all mine and the only alternator one they had was some cheap knock off brand, they didnt have a dayton or gates one. Sure enough mine squeels. And it is tighter than it should be.....rubber hardness maybe... cheap belt just doesnt have the traction.

 

[heroberries]

I have had the same issue. Squeals like crazy upon startup, wakes the neighbors up. I was on the highway and my alt belt flew off, replaced it, a month later it flew off again. Turned out my hermonic balancer was all torn up and jagged and was tearing the belts apart. Replaced that but still squeals. Annoying

 

[Pwrtrip75]

Just a guess on mine also... I know it starts slower than what I think normal would be.. So It could be the battery is not up to full voltage on startup, so when starting, that uses a lot of amperage, drains the battery more, and then when first running the alternator is running double time to charge the battery back up. You can tell there is a good load on it when squeeling.
My car sat awhile before I bought it, owner said the battery was new. Most batteries you get in autopart stores, the cheaper ones its like 9 out of 10 of them have issues of some kind.
My 99 transam had a new battery, having issues with voltage offset on the injectors at startup....turned out the battery was holding power awesome...never drained... but only had like 11.5 volts. Brand new battery junk. Same with my 99 vette... on it if you dont have full voltage at startup it gives you a steering column lock error..Junk batteries. I seem to go through 1-2 batteries a summer... usually exchange them under warranty or return them and try and find a better one. irritating when everything is junk.

 

[1hooyaahhbull]

I found on my 2g that when I put a load on my alternator other than tail lights and regular use like the radio. I would get a squeal and rev the engine a few times, the squeal goes away. I removed my accessory belt completely and still got it. It is the bearings on the alternator on the shaft, short a new alternator was my fix!!!! Wish you luck!!!! hope it works!!!

 

[Rsawd95dsm]

Also take the belts off and clean the pulley wheels with break cleaner or something of that nature to make sure all dirt a debris is out of there

 

[TallestHERETIC]

I finally got some days off from work. Checked it out on my lunch breaks and I found a few questionable things.

Can an alternator's bearings wear out, even at 92K? It is pretty old and nasty looking, so that's my first guess. Doesn't make any odd noises. The bolt to adjust the tension is great. Battery is in solid condition, too.

All belts are recent have less than 100 miles on them. They are the Dayco brand.

The power steering pulley looks pretty used up (it has a shiny polished look) but it does it's job. Belt tension TOO tight maybe?

This is frustrating! Should I just change all the pulleys?

 

[95eclipseguy]

Sounds like the same issue we had. Ours squealed on startup, especially when it was cold out. I just happened to be watching the volt gauge during startup after installing a new battery and noticed the gauge going up as the squealing went away. I thought it was tight enough, then I tightened it more. Now it doesn't squeal at all no matter how cold it gets.

 

[TallestHERETIC]

I really dont want to take this to a mechanic because I know they will give me the run around, or worse, misdiagnose the problem!

But it seems like its my last resort besides changing all the pulleys. I hope it's not something stupid like a belt!

 

[ennioGST]

I've had some problems regarding belt squealing. First it was my water pump, then my alternator, and finally my crank shaft pulleys.
Check all your pulleys- take the belts off and manually turn them and listen for squeaking.
when you get to the crankshaft, check the pulley bushing for it is common for it to go bad.

 

[mnelsen]

its called a belt tensioner... tighten it. this woulda been a 2 second google search

 

[TallestHERETIC]

Looks like I found the problem!

The crank pulley is starting to go bad which also explains why the A/C made noise on or off since it is right next to the crankshaft.

Easy mistake and easily overlooked! Fail for me....

Also learned that this is actually common in lower mileage GST/GSX trims.

Thankx to everybody for helping me out!