Car Fan Belts

[spotsy]

I have noticed over the last 3 to 5 years the fan belts seem to make noise after a short time frame. The last two or three that I have bought and installed, they started squeaking or making a little noise after several weeks to several months. If you spray them with say WD40, or let a bar of soap rub against the belt, they quiet right down and several days later you start to hear them agaim. Mostly when they are cold or just started. The surpentine belts is what I'm referring to.

 

A few years back you only replaced a belt when it was cracked however the last couple I did it was for noise. I remember using belt dressings years ago but don't see that like you use to.

 

Anybody else have this issue and what have you done? Thanks.

 

Spotsy

[pegscraper]

Haven't seen it myself. Possibly your tensioner pulley is getting weak?

[GeorgeS]

The serpintine belts being used now are not same as old V-Belts.

 

Do not spray anything on them !! I made that mistake, and about 2 weeks later had to replace the belt. This was about 10 years ago. On a 93 Ford.

 

What I have been doing since they came into service, is just replace them at about

every 50,000 miles.

 

Also, recently the new vehicals have belts with Kevlar material in the construction of the belt. The 08 Blazer I just bought, is supposed to have a 100K Kevlar Belt.

Do I believer that ?? Who knows ??

[Eck]

Have not had problems with belts squeaking.

 

Just some quick thoughts here.

Check to see if:

The belt auto-tentioner (adjuster) is working properly.

Auto belt pulley bearings worn / dragging?

The alternator, a/c, water pump, or pwr steering pulley bearings are not worn or dragging.

 

Are all pulleys are in proper alignment?

 

Maybe it is the brand" of belt your buying..could be a cheaper type where it is not as flexible, meaning more plastic properties then being rubber in the texture.

 

 

[Bubber]

The serpintine belts being used now are not same as old V-Belts.

 

Do not spray anything on them !! I made that mistake, and about 2 weeks later had to replace the belt. This was about 10 years ago. On a 93 Ford.

 

What I have been doing since they came into service, is just replace them at about

every 50,000 miles.

 

Also, recently the new vehicals have belts with Kevlar material in the construction of the belt. The 08 Blazer I just bought, is supposed to have a 100K Kevlar Belt.

Do I believer that ?? Who knows ??

 

 

On my 1999 Chevy Silverado (230K) I have never replaced the: belt or exhaust (SS).

I recently had a head crack and at that time the water pump was replaced. I haven't driven it since but that may be where the squeal is coming from.

 

Bubber

[Venturous Randy]

Are all pulleys are in proper alignment?

 

 

 

This is a biggy on belts making noise, especially if they are properly tensioned and still making noise. It does not take much of an alignment problem to make noise. You should not put anything on your belts, especially WD-40.

RandyA

[SilvrT]

I had a problem with belt noise on a 92 Dodge Shadow with the 4cyl. Tried belt dressing... worked for about a day... replaced the belt ... few days later started squealing ... tried the belt dressing again... day later it was squealing. Removed tensioner and checked it... tried to see if there was any alignment issue... nada ... but I did eventually solve it ... the car belonged to my live-in g/f at the time... I broke up with her and moved out! never had to deal with that car again!

:rotf:

[GeorgeS]

If you sprayed anything on the Serpintine Belt, your going to have to Remove the belt. Then Clean All the Pullys. All of them. Then Replace the belt, by spraying " STUFF " on it, you ruined the belt.

[spotsy]

Thanks for all the responses. Everything turned free and true when I had replaced the belt. I'm guessing the tensioner is not as strong as it was new. I'll listen to it until it brothers me to much. Thanks.

 

BTW, the squirt of WD was just to make sure it was belt noise and not a bearing going somewhere.

 

Spotsy

[Nighthawk II]

What make of vehicle do you have? Fords are notorious for a dry rocker. It sounds just like a belt squeel. My 2003 Ranger did this and I changed 4 belts before I found out about it. Sea Foam in the oil will quieten it down in a while.

[Ivan]

Serpentine belts are a blessing in many ways, but a curse to those who drive a lot of miles on gravel.

 

Small bits of gravel get in the grooves and wear down the ridges on the pulleys where the stones hit them repeatedly. Look at the ridges of the pulley. If they have a rounded apperance on them, you won't get it to stop squeaking until you replace the pulleys. Whne they are worn down, there isn't much surface area to make contact with the belt and you can't get them tight enough to stop squeaking.

[hillrider]

As the belts age, they will tend to disentagrate(?) and fill the grooves with stuff. A wire brush will remove the stuff and allow the belts to sit all the way into the pulley.

[GeorgeS]

On the Tensioner Pully, and one other Idler Pully, It might be a good idea to Again Remove the Belt, then Remove those Two Pully's. Then Greese, or replace the bearings , in those pully's. OR-- Replace the Idler pully itself.

 

Your problem, " might " be a bad Bearing in one of those two pully's.

 

They don't cost that much, do the job yourself, I doubt the two pullys would cost much more then an hours work at a dealer.

 

I removed both of them on my 93 Ford, and just Injected the bearings with grease useing a needle attachment on my greese gun. ( they are still in service, and doing fine ) after about 20K,