Squeaky belts, how do i remove oil?

[ri06667]

Hey guys, I just changed my clutch and now between 1000 and 2000 rpm it squeals like crazy.. i dont recall getting anything on the belts, but i did spill a tad bit of oil.. Lets say if i'd actually gotten some oil on the serpentine belt, would this just wear off eventually or is there something i can do to shut it up?

 

[Carlos Murphy]

oil

Try spraying a little "brake clean" on it while it's running.

 

[mkpecor]

get a bar of bath soap and let the belts run through it when running the motor, watch out for the fan spining

 

[ri06667]

get a bar of bath soap and let the belts run through it when running the motor, watch out for the fan spining

Really?? thats crazy, never would I have thought of that on my own.. I might try this as i dont have any brake cleaner.

 

[Will]

I wouldn't do that. I would just replace the belt. Keep the squeaky one for a spare.

 

[Shoeboy]

Replacing it is the proper way of doing it because the oil will seep into the pores of the rubber and it will continue to squeal. For a temporary fix, or even a permanent fix if the contaminant is minimal is using soap (Ivory works best), a candle stick, or the ones that I find work the best is either baby powder, baking soda or even fine sand (although it has to be very fine, if your kids have a sandbox or something with similar sand, this works best). If you do use brake cleaner, or anything that creates a mist or dust, be careful with the spray back at you, brake cleaner stings like a bitch if you get it in your eyes (take my word for it).

 

[mkpecor]

a bar of soap works really good, doesent do any thing to the belt, if the belt is not bad why buy a new one.

 

[ri06667]

yeah im told not to do the soap thing because ive got a serpentine belt that runs evreything off one large belt.. i'll try some degreaser spray or powder tomorrow when its bright out.. thanks guys!

 

[Jspafford]

Get a can of belt dressing. It will stop it for a while.

I ended up replacing mine though, they will start squealing again.

 

[Will]

ANd a $20 belt is cheap insurance against chopping the shit out of your hand. I hit the fan with my hand one time--a flex fan so it was worse. Sprayed blood like an open hydrant. I put my hands in my pockets when I'm around running engines since then. The thought of running a bar of soap on a belt gives me cold chills. No way.

 

[94 lngbd]

WILL: Maybe besides putting your hands in your pockets you should of put you head in your _ _ _, so it wouldn't of got in the way.

JK ,but you had to know that someones was going to have a comeback with what you said about putting your hands in your pockets & getting your head cut by a flex fan.

 

[Roadkill]

I second the belt dressing. That is what the stuff is made for. We used it all the time in the machine shop I worked at for the belts on the machinery. It is a VERY oily environment and we didn't just replace a "$20 belt" every time one got oil on it. The shop would close in no time. We also didn't have to use the dressing very often. Maybe once every few months or so. Not bad for machines running 12 hours a day in oily high torque environments.

 

[WildSide]

Before taking any advice, is this belt in good shape? Is the serpentine belt tensioner in good shape and working properly? All pulleys and bearings in good shape? Then if its oil contamination causing the squeal take the damn belt off the truck and then clean it and the pulleys. Castrol super clean or simply green works just fine to remove oils on the belt and with the pulleys fully exposed you can now clean them completely.

 

[94 lngbd]

WILL: My bad sorry I thought your post mentioned your head got in the way & after re reading it I saw that it was your hand & not your head

 

[JamesC]

I found the best way is to use the hand cleaner soap when the engine is not running, just lather the soap on the belt and then start it up Usually the hand cleaner soap has some pumice in it so it takes any glazing off the belt as well as oil.