2G Pulley/Belt Squeal

[James_dsm]

I have a 97’ GST eclipse and I’m hearing a squeal coming from a pulley/belt when I idle. The squeal temporarily stops when I turn the AC on, it also goes away when I start to drive.

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[Kryndon]

Hi, and welcome to the forums!

Unfortunately, we'll need a lot more info. Also, the video is private. Try setting it to "unlisted" so only people with the direct link can view it!

First and foremost let's determine which of all 3 accessory belts is the culprit. Start up the car, let it idle until you get the constant squeal. Take a bottle of water and drip a few drops onto the first belt (Alternator belt). Does it make the squeal go away? If not, do the same for the Power Steering belt. Try dripping the water inside the grooves and not on the outside. Does the squeal stop? If not, move on to the last belt which is your AC belt.

If it STOPS squealing, then that is your problem area. It could be a few things, however. AC clutch, the bearing of that pulley, the pulley itself being too worn and having sharp edges (the V shapes). It would result in a prematurely worn belt. Additionally, the tension might not be set properly.

Check which belt is the problem and come back so we can continue investigating.

 

[James_dsm]

Alright so I tried the water trick and it didn’t stop the squealing on any of the belts. Its the lowest right hand side pulley. It started happening after driving from where I picked the car up originally. I diagnosed it had bad engine mounts but had to drive around 30 miles to get it home in the first place. The belt has a black line like it is being dragged against a piece of metal, I’m assuming when I’m switching gears. The belt might be loosening up due it being worn down, but the pulley also sounds like its the culprit making the noise.

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[Kryndon]

Buddy, that right there is a V-belt. That's the completely wrong kind of belt for both the crank and compressor pulleys. You need a 'multi-groove' / serpentine belt. It wont be making proper contact with the pulleys, even though it spins them.

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Go to your parts store, have them run your VIN and when they pull out a belt make sure it looks like this:

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Also I can see that there are two types, one that is 935mm long and the other is 940mm long. So make sure they give you the right one!

 

[James_dsm]

Thanks man I see now so it’s basically just dragging itself across the pulleys causing the forced sound of movement. I appreciate the help the guy I bought it from probably didn’t know what to get. Do you know what size I should get? 940 or 930?

 

[Kryndon]

DM me your VIN so I can run it through the catalogue and see if it will show whether it's 935 or 940.

edit: sent