Squeaky Belt

[armyrules2]

I have the 3.0

 

[armyrules2]

Ok I sprayed it with WD-40 and it stopped. But only temporarily.

 

[Kowboy]

We can now rule out the cam positioning sensor. If a pulley is out of alignment, it will wear the belt out unevenly. I've had it to literally shred the side of my belt. Is your belt wearing along it's edges? A belt riding on a badly aligned pulley may have flown off the smooth pulleys, when you sprayed the WD-40. MY belt squealing was eventually cured when I replaced the idler pulley that is used to remove your belt. Somehow the idler kept my belt way too tight. Some may assume, that a loose belt is the culprit of a squeal, when actually one too tight will as well. If you have difficulty in removing the belt when operating the tensioner pulley, I'd look into replacing it. After I replaced my idler I could use any of the 3 belts I had on hand. All 3 did squeal w/ the old idler and ran fine w/ the new idler. My old idler was the cause of the edge wear to my belt.

 

[Kowboy]

When you think about it, the idler pulley is most likely to become misaligned. It is the one pulley that is on a swing arm bracket. I forgot to mention that your fan clutch could be part of the problem. Check to see if it is operating properly. I would suspect that it would be more likely to squeal when gunning the engine though. "W/ the engine off", disclaimer here, HA HA, you should be able to turn the fan blade. It will offer some resistance, but you should be able to turn it w/ some pressure.

 

[Earl43P]

Kowboy, you have confused idler with TENSIONER.
The tensioner is on an arm. The idler just spins.

FWIW, the p/n of both pulleys' bearing is 6203RSJ.
I just replaced both of my bearings for a squeal which turned into a scrape and degraded into a rap. I need a new water pump, judging by the amount of coolant that has crusted around the weep hole. It does NOT wobble and makes NO sound when spun with the belt removed.

Just adding this for future searchers. I don't need any advice, thanks.
Also, the PS Bracket is in the way for one of the 3.0 water pump bolts.
I'll be using a dremel to gain some clearance instead of fighting with that bracket.

 

[Kowboy]

I just couldn't think of the parts name while typing, so I just described it as, "the idler pulley that is used to remove your belt". I was hoping Armyrules2 would get the meaning. I too went through everything chasing my squeal and for sure the idler tension pulley was the culprit. I only replaced it when it finally broke. Ironically, the new pulley allowed the belt to run much more loose than the old one. They obviously were dissimilar parts. While chasing my squeal, I began to notice other Rangers, that I would meet in traffic, had the same squealing belt issue. I wondered if it could be corrected. Looks like it can.

 

[Kowboy]

Armyrules2, when I say idler tensioner pulley, I think you would need to replace the tensioner assembly and not necessarily the pulley. I would do both for precaution though.

 

[armyrules2]

I already replaced the idler and tensioner pulley which stopped the squeal for a couple of months and then it started again. I replaced the belt when I did the pulleys. I have been looking into getting a goodyear gator back belt.

 

[armyrules2]

I used a long screwdriver to listen to the water pump, alternator, and other pulleys they all sound fine the only one I couldn't really get a good listen to was the tensioner assembly and pulley. Will have to listen to that one next.

 

[Kowboy]

Sounds like you've done it all w/ the exception of the tensioner assembly. I got mine from Auto Zone and it was a Dayco part.

 

[armyrules2]

I'm gonna try the goodyear gator back belt first and if that doesn't work I will replace the tensioner assembly

 

[Kowboy]

Cool!! Please keep us updated as well.

 

[RDR]

it's a good idea to always change the entire assembly when changing the tensioner, IMO, keep us posted!

 

[RideFord94]

The bracket isn't difficult 2 studs in front of the exhaust manifold and 3 on the front face. It is a major PITA either way

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[armyrules2]

I am happy to say that my squek is gone. I put a Goodyear gatorback belt on and te squeak stopped. I would recommend this belt to anyone with a squeaky truck. I think it may even be quieter than before the squeak.