Help me narrow down this squeal...pictures inside.

Alright, so some of you might have caught some of my previous posts on here about this squeal I'm dealing with during cold starts. I replaced my serpentine belt in August due to a similar squealing. Problem solved. Then a month or so ago, I started getting another squeal from the belt area, but this time, it lasts a little longer (about 5-10 minutes during driving depending on temperature). The squeal (unlike last time) gets WORSE and LOUDER with acceleration. When it first started, if I let off the accelerator, it went away. Now it doesn't go away, it just quiets down a little. The noise itself goes away after a while of warm-up.

So I've finally started troubleshooting.

I sprayed the belt with a little brake cleaner to no avail.

I checked the belt, and it's in good condition.

I finally went out and dropped my skid, released the tension, and spun all of the idler pulleys. They all seem to spin fine, (the tensioner pulley might have a littler resistance to it, not sure). So instead of going out and dropping $100+ on all new pulley's, I want to make sure that's really the issue.

I was unable to isolate the noise to one particular area, either.

Here are the pictures:

Picture looking up at the tensioner pulley.





Here's a shot of the belt. Gives you an idea that it's still in good condition.



Finally, the only thing that concerns me. There seemed to be some leak signs (maybe in the past) on the PS pump here (although the squeal didn't seem to be coming from this side of the bay):




Does anything stand out to you guys here? I guess my only option now, though, unfortunately, would be to start with the pulleys. Should I start with the tensioner first since much of my research turned up that it's the first one usually to go off all the pulleys?

 

Ok, thanks. What's the torque specs on that?

 

As always, thanks Chris.

 

Looks to me like you have a leak somewhere, judging from the 2nd and 3rd pics. Maybe your leaking oil (could be power steering) and it it dripping on a pulley or the belt causing it to slip.

 

maybe its the screw driver thats making all the noise

 

Maybe it's just me, but it looks like that belt is pretty loose...

 

Picture was taken with tension relieved on the belt (note the screw driver in the first pic)

 

Well, now I'm a bit worried. Power steering fluid is low, there is evidence of at one time a leak (or currently) on the PS pump. However, there's no fluid under the truck, no whirring sound when turning the wheel, etc.

I checked more carefully this evening, and checked the lines coming in and out of the pump, and I couldn't see any leaks. I have no idea where that residue you can see in the last picture.

Thoughts?

 

Did you end up replacing the tensioner and did this solve the problem? I just replaced the lower idler pulley as it had some resistance but that did not solve my issue.

 

Well thats your problem right there, seems like you have a screwdriver stuck in there! Just kidding, but seriously, I know your pain, I've gone through 2 pulley replacements already.