Startup Squeal, new belts, only when cold.

Hey,
I have a squeal that has been awful. OOPS! here we go.
When I start my truck, usually when its cold it happens.
It lets out this horrible belt squeal, I tightened them once.
It seems like an alternator thing, possibly water pump.

Next weekend I guess I will try to take a belt off and let it cool off.
Try it and if thats not the one, I will move to the next belt and try again.

Any Suggestions?

 

sounds to me like a bearing/pulley issue instead of a belt issue...especially since you have new belts on now. may be as simple as a tensioner pulley bearing.

 

before u do all that try using some chalk on the belt/s.just regular old chalk,its an ancient chinese secret.i really does work.oh do it while its running.if u cant get your hand down in there(be very careful)just tape it to a stick/3/8 extension what ever.good luck.had the same on my 05 and its all gone.later

 

I thought of that, but they felt fine when I had them off 6k ago.
I removed the pulleys, cleaned off the dirt and debris from under the covers.
Spun them in my fingers and the bearings felt smooth.
It seems as if something is not spinning as it should at startup.

We will see.
Thanks, K.L.

 

Are the belts tight enough?

Have you tried tightening them a bit more? Or perhaps they're too tight.

How old are the belts?

Also - check your A/C idler pulley (if you have one). Those (bearings) are notorious for going bad in the 1st gen trucks. It might be on the verge of going bad and just starting to squeek.