squealing belt fix

91stranger · Feb 20, 2018

So my belt has been squealing like crazy from start up to 5-10 minutes down the road. Though I would get the belt dressing that says it is made to stop annoying squealing. As soon as I sprayed it on the belt it got WAAYYY worse and didn't go away for about 15-20 minutes. so after doing some googling I found my answer. baby powder. as soon as I put a few dabs of baby powder on it the noise went away. I have drove to work and a few miles on my lunch break and still no squealing. so just wanted to let everyone know that baby powder is the way to go. for one its cheap and you can obviously use it for other things. I have kids so we have some laying around. just wanted to put this info out there for anyone who may be dealing with an annoying belt.

85_Ranger4x4 · Feb 20, 2018

How old is the belt and tensioner?

racsan · Feb 20, 2018

x2 on the tensioner, ive had to replace 2 in the past year (diffrent trucks though) not only did i have belt squeal on occasion, but my alternator wasnt charging fully. new tensioner and it would charge good, no squeal. found out it was bad when i went to try a new belt and id pull tensioner back - and it would stay where i pulled it to. the last one i did when i had a head issue and i just replaced a bunch of other things for preventative measures, like timing belt, timing belt idler/tensioner, water pump, thermostat and thermostat housing.....then i'll be damned if less than a month later that truck needed a alternator.....and a fuel pump.... should be new again soon, not many parts left to replace. lol

91stranger · Feb 21, 2018

They are probably original to the truck. The guy I got it from didn't really remember what all he did to it. he owned from 1999-2017 and was getting up there in age. The belt has no cracks in it at all. haven't checked the tensioner but the belt is tight on all the pulleys.

adsm08 · Feb 21, 2018

I always kind of thought that belt dressing was a sham, and know it is a bad idea.

Belts squeal when they are slipping. Belt dressing is a silicone lubricant, similar to WD-40. It doesn't fix the root of the problem, which would be stopping the slip, it just lubes things up so the noise stops.

I can see baby powder actually stopping the slippage though. Baby powder is mostly talcum, which is what gymnasts and pro baseball pitchers put on their hands so they don't lose their grip when their hands start sweating.

I am going to have to try this myself now, since the belt in my truck has always squealed, and my whole FEAD, belt included, was new when I rebuilt that engine.

pjtoledo · Feb 21, 2018

on my 2000 3.0 it's the back side of the belt that makes most of the noise. where the numbers are is a different texture and it makes a rhythmic squawk as it passes over the water pump and idler pulley.
a steady squeak is the drive side, I only get that on very humid days.

91stranger · Feb 21, 2018

it definitely works. its been raining all day and I noticed it squeal for a minute at first start up but it was gone after 20-30 seconds. I haven't used much baby powder either. literally like 2-3 poofs out of the bottle. so I'm sure more powder would help the noise.

squealing belt fix

91stranger

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85_Ranger4x4

Forum Staff Member

racsan

Well-Known Member

91stranger

Well-Known Member

adsm08

Senior Master Grease Monkey

pjtoledo

Well-Known Member

91stranger

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