Pulley Squeak

So I've had a pulley squeak on my Durango for a while. I thought maybe the idler or tensioner pulley was going bad. However, I was filling up the coolant resevoir with some water and spilled some on the belt why the truck was running. The squeak went away for about a 20 minutes, then came back.

I put probably 7000 miles on the truck since I put it on. Belt still looks to be in good shape.

Any thoughts?

was it a cheap belt?

you sure none of that water went into the bearing? when i worked at AZ, i had a guy bring in a car with a bad pulley bearing squealing away, and it could be silenced for a minute or two with a shot of wd40

Cheap belt or the tensioner is junk.

Put new belts on the Accent last fall & they never stopped squealing. Finally got new ones from Napa and the noise went away. I didn't want to believe it either.

I had an old multi-rib belt that I replaced with a new one a while back. The new one squeals but not all of the time. Upon start up but once the belt "warms up" it goes away. I have sprayed belt dressing on it and it doesn't help. Only stops it for a minute or so and then it comes right back.

I plan on removing the AC compressor this spring so I'm holding off on a new belt until then. This is on a 1988 Ford van. The AC uses R12, hasn't worked in 8-9 years and just don't see the benefit of keeping the compressor in the loop, belt loop that is.

Old timer trick that often works and costs virtually nothing even if it doesn't---- Remove the belt and slather it up with brake fluid. Wipe off the excess (don't wipe it dry but don't leave it dripping either) and reinstall.

Jeff

Another old tyme trick: use that black adhesive silicone. Has to be adhesive, not the non sticky type. Make sure the pulleys are clean, brake cleaner works good but let it dry thoroughly. Smear the stickum in an spot about an inch and a half long, then fire it up and let it run 5-10 minutes.

If you can get a prybar in there with the engine running, push towards the engine on the bolt in the middle of the tensioner. It will likely move slightly back on the worn pivot bushings, making the noise go away.

Dakota used to do that – I replaced the belt with a Gator. More expensive, but the problem went away. I've also rubbed them with soap to kill the noise, but it's a temporary reprieve.

uninstall then re-install worked ( had to do it 2 - 3 times ) on a Honda manymanymany yrs ago

In reply to wbjones:

Must have installed the belt backwards the first few times.