belt squeal

[jablome483]

so i went through the car wash today and my serp. belt started squeaking. ive had this fixed a few times, new belt, tensioner, and idler pulley in the last few months. every time it gets fixed it goes away for a little while, then comes back on a random day when its wet, after wheeling, or the car wash. when i spray some water on the belt it goes away for a minute then comes back. help me please, its driving me insane

 

[Big Jim M]

Yep!

so i went through the car wash today and my serp. belt started squeaking. ive had this fixed a few times, new belt, tensioner, and idler pulley in the last few months. every time it gets fixed it goes away for a little while, then comes back on a random day when its wet, after wheeling, or the car wash. when i spray some water on the belt it goes away for a minute then comes back. help me please, its driving me insane

Sounds like one of your pullys isn't zackly lined up. I'd be taking the belt off and giving all the pullys a good shake and having a good look at all the mounting bolts of everything.
Properly installed the belt shouldn't ever make a noise. Could be the idler and tensioner you installed have already started to fail.. It ain't unheard of. So take em back and get new ones..
Big JIm

 

[jablome483]

i think the fan clutch might be the problem. if i pour a little drizzle of water over the fan clutch and then start it up it doesnt start to squeak for 20 or 30 seconds. anybody else ever have to replace that because of a squeak?

 

[93_RangerSC]

put sum dawn dish soap on the ribbed part of the belt and call it good!!haha
also check for a dry-rotted belt that could be it to

 

[jablome483]

the belt is brand new so thats not the problem

 

[jablome483]

im thinking its the water pump. i tested all the pulleys with lubricant and spraying the nut that holds the fan to the water pump pulley was the only thing that made it go away for a few seconds. so should i go ahead and replace the water pump or what?

 

[Big Jim M]

hmmm

im thinking its the water pump. i tested all the pulleys with lubricant and spraying the nut that holds the fan to the water pump pulley was the only thing that made it go away for a few seconds. so should i go ahead and replace the water pump or what?

The first thing to do is tke the belt off and closely examine all the parts it spins.
By far the most likely parts that may be inferior are the tensioner and the idler. A close examination of both should produes good results.
Simply pouring water on the belt will accomplish NOTHING! Ditto posting on here! You need to raise the hood and get to work under there. About twenty minutes of your time should point out a winner...
Big JIm

Ps.. Yeah we heard you say the tensioner and idler are a few months old.. that don't mean squat..

 

[jablome483]

taking the belt off and examining all the pulleys was the first thing i did. the tensioner and idler are both in perfect condition. in fact all the pulleys spin perfectly except for the water pump which does make a weird groan when i spin it.

 

[holyford86]

Try eyeballing the pulleys to make sure that they aren't out of line, also I've had problems with cheap serpentine belts squeaking. Also look for runout (wobbly) in pulleys.

 

[jablome483]

replaced the water pump today. problem solved

 

[bilzy7]

Water pump? Never woulda thought of that... Maybe that's some of my prob I know I need new pulleys that you replaced, new belt. Glad you posted heh.
Ja blo me. How original.

 

[jablome483]

haha yeah theres an inside joke behind that name...

 

[mosher41]

i have had the same issue ever since i owned this truck, especially in the winter. I have replaced with a gates belt, new tensioner, new idler pulley, new water pump, Checked and re-checked for alignment...some days are absolutly horrible, one small shot of silicone spray on the ribs and it will go away for a week or so....when outside temps climb above 70 it never does it

 

[bintopo]

replaced the water pump today. problem solved

I had the same problem about two years ago. Shop changed the idler pulley, two weeks later, same problem. Changed the tensioner pulley, two weeks later, same problem. Oh it's the Alternator, two weeks later, same problem. Next it was the water pump's turn, turned out that that was the issue. Well that and a the clutch fan?!?!?! Paid several hundreds of $ for guesses.

I've hated that new clutch fan since day one. It takes forever to disengage. Now the squealing belt is back. Went out a bought a Rad Pressure Test Kit and coolant was spurting out of the water pump. Going to change it myself this time. The big question is what is causing the water pump to go bad? Anybody have any guesses? LOL

Thanks
Brian

 

[bintopo]

Changed the water pump over the weekend. So far no leaks.

The belt squeals now at start up for a few seconds and when the clutch fan in engaged. Driving home yesterday with the A/C on was horrible. I could hear the clutch fan engaged and then the belt would squeal.

How do you tell when the clutch fan goes bad?