3.0 Belt Squeal WTF

[zukirider21]

Alright guys, I'm at my wit's end with this damn serp belt. Truck is a 2001 3.0 with air conditioning. Ever since I bought it there has been a BRUTAL constant belt squeal at any engine speed, 99.9% of the time. Every once in a while it would stop doing it for a few minutes, but never for long. Doesnt seem to be humidity or temperature related.

I have literally read every damn article online about the issue, and tried just about everything.

New idler, new tensioner and it's respective idler, new premium gates belt (equivalent to a gatorback). The alternator is new, the ac pulley bearings are good, and the belt rides smack in the middle of both idlers. I even went to the extent of cleaning all the pulley grooves with a wire brush and brake cleaner before installing the new belt. The squeak went away for a few days, and came back just as bad as before.

Now it's doing something pretty interesting. I'd say about once a week, only on cold mornings when I just pull out of my driveway, the belt pops out of it's groove and makes this INCREDIBLE sound. (Words cant even describe this sound. The first time I heard it, I was convinced I had a rod through the block and the motor was done. It was a metal on metal, very mechanical sound that obviously goes with engine rpm. BUT it was the belt!) The belt literally rides about 1/32nd of an inch too far back (towards engine) on the compressor pulley. Not even the full width of a pulley "V". And it just sits there, slightly off track, making that incredible noise. I shut it off and all it takes for me to put it back on track is literally one finger. The noise goes away and it wont do it again for another week.

WTF right?

Any input would be soooo greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

 

[Earl43P]

Get a straight-edge and see where your mis-alignment is.

Last one I fixed was a Taurus and the tensioner guide pin wasn't in the hole.

 

[ext94cab]

I just had a pretty bad constant belt squeal fixed, turned out to the the power steering pulley misaligned.

 

[grlnbear04]

I had the same problem with my 2000 ranger and I tried everything from belts to pulley's to a new tensioner, I got a tip from a member here about shimming the tensioner, so I figured what the heck I'll give it a try and all I did was put a washer on the locator pin and no more squeal.

 

[zukirider21]

I had the same problem with my 2000 ranger and I tried everything from belts to pulley's to a new tensioner, I got a tip from a member here about shimming the tensioner, so I figured what the heck I'll give it a try and all I did was put a washer on the locator pin and no more squeal.

Alright this sounds interesting! Got any pics or more info? I'm guessing you're talking about the pin on the backside of the tensioner that goes in to the mounting bracket? Was your belt riding off to one side of the pulley before you did it? Because mine seems to be dead on in the middle of both idlers....

And also I've tried a few times checking for misalignment, everything seems perfect. The ps pump has a tiny bit of endplay and whines a bit so I was considering just replacing it before it goes and takes out my rack anyways, but I highly doubt there's enough misalignment there.

 

[grlnbear04]

Yes, the pin on the backside of the tensioner, I just tried a few different sizes of washers in thickness until I got the right one. The problem I found was that my tensioner wasn't holding the alignment that was required to keep the pully perfectly aligned with the belt and once I shimmed the tensioner the squeal was gone and it has not returned since. As far as the belt riding on the other pulley's, before I shimmed the tensioner the belt looked like it would wobble back and fourth accorss the pulley's and now not at all, it rides perfectly on all of the pulley's.