Terrible squeaky belt all of a sudden

2011, 57k miles. Recently I noticed a very slight chirp in the belt, so I decided it hit it with some old conditioner I had.. Well, that made it squeak TERRIBLY and constantly. No chirping. Just solid squeal. I got some new conditioner, and was able to get it to stop at the store.. Drove to another store quietly. Came back out an hour later, squeal was back. Sprayed it again. Drove 15 minutes home, no noise. Started it next morning. Terrible. Doused it again and got it to stop. Drove two hours with nothing. Started it next day. Terrible. Sprayed it with some stuff a friend had, and it worked much better. But it comes back after abut 50 miles. It comes back as a slight chirp and eventually is full on squeal. Where should I start?

 

looks like you need a new belt, unless you can pinpoint the noise from a pulley or something else

 

Yea, sounds like it needs replacing the extream cold and heat can wear a belt quicker than normal. Dont want it to break and hit something vital like a radiator hose. My dads 66 mustang had a bad squeak from one of the belts that we replaced a year ago.

 

On a different truck,I had a belt squeal. When I hit it with conditioner, the belt shredded. I put on a new belt. Same thing, squeal, then shred. I had the bearings go in an idler pulley. You may be having a similar experience. In my case, the pulley twisted and shredded the belt. Yours may just be seized, if it is a pulley.

 

everything seems to spin fine, and it will quite down with conditioner for a while

 

When you remove the belt make sure any idlers spun freely. I haven't changed mine yet, I'm at 85k miles, so I don't know how many pulleys we have that should spin.

There's a good chance it's just your belt though.

 

well, I replaced the belt. Everything spins freely. No bind that I could find.. No squeak on start.. Anything over 1500 rpms squeaks like crazy

 

another thing too is that the flat side is all that rides on the idlers.. But spraying the flat side never would cause any change.. only spraying the ribbed side helped. all pulleys seemed to spin.. Compressor, alternator, powersteering, they would all spin. does a new belt take some break in?

 

so.. I think I found it.. It seemed to be squeakin on the the power steering pulley.. I was jackin with the tensioner while it was running.. (dangerous I know) trying to see if I forced it tighter if it would stop,, or if I slacked it if it got worse. Going tighter didn't completely get rid of it.. But in the process, all the sudden it completely stopped.. But I hear a clicking. Clicking seems to be from the idler right in front of the power steering pump. And I can feel it in it with a long screwdriver on the bolt head. I think something isn't right with it, and it wasn't allowing the belt to feed onto the power steering pump right.. causing a squeal...

 

I know this is obvious but we all have done it, trace the belt all the way through and make sure it is not just misaligned by a hair on a pulley. But I had similar symptoms a while back and everything 'seemed' to be in align when I would check it while parked. But...

The idler that is close to the power steering pump, see if it looks kinda un-evenly worn on the surface where the belt rides. I had some play in my power steering pump that let the belt kinda wobble. I could not figure it out. I noticed the ware on the idler then traced it to the power steering pump slightly moving when I was driving. Make sure the bolts on the pump and the pump pulley are tight. Hope that helps.

 

all the grooves were in place.. There is something funny between the idler pulley and the power steering pulley.. It seemed like it was somehow misaligned. and the power steerin pulley has a slight amount of play in it, but it doesn't wobble any while running. .. But the idler is also clicking kinda bad now, which actually may have been the original sound I though was a chirping.... I'm gonna try to get one tomorrow and see what happens

 

Does A new idler pulley require a little bit of break in at all? I put a new one on and belt squealed real bad again. Took it right back off. any ideas?

 

Got a different idler from a dealer.. Still poppin.. Luckily they took it back. Somehow something seems misaligned. Like the belt has jumped groove, and has now wore to that groove. and wont go back.. Pissin me off for sure

 

That belt conditioner stuff is horrible, in my opinion. If it squeaks, i change it. I keep a spare in the truck. Its a simple job on our trucks.

 

yeah. It was simple. but I think the new one is ruined. The new one still squeaked real bad. I was messing with the tensioner and all the sudden it stopped. But then started a popping and clicking. I really don't know what is going on.

 

You need to pull the belt and inspect every pulley and idler for damage. Then clean all that snake oil off everything and start over.

Mechanic stethoscopes and Laser/IR thermometers are helpful tools finding the problem before you spray that shit everywhere - or after you clean it off.

 

The popping is from the sticky crap you sprayed. Get 2 cans of brake cleaner. Remove belt and clean each pulley with the brake cleaner. Make sure all the sticky crap is gone, then put on a NEW belt. The one you have now is fucked up.

 

my crank pulley is also wobbling slightly..

 

anyone ever had any issues with aftermarket belts squeaking? Is it possible that buildup on the pulleys is what caused the new belt to squeak?

 

Mine started sqeeking again today same churp, churp, churp, churp came back, but only when i turn the steering wheel even the slightest bit to the left. Not even actually turning, just jerk it to the left? It has to do with power steering, but everything is tight now? It lasted for a good month? Belt was changed at the same time i tightened up the ps bolts and that made the churp stop. Its back??? I checked all the pulleys without the belt on, i cranked the motor with no belt, no noise from the crank. Guess i have my weekend project.