Squeaky Belt from HELL

[MB07]

I know this is had been covered a million times and everyone had had this issue at least once since they’ve owned their car but I have a squeaky belt I cannot for the life of me diagnose.

The coolant hose that runs to the heater core popped spewing distilled water and rad cleaner (in the middle of a thurough coolant) everywhere. Hose was replaced and all fluids were cleaned up. My car has developed a VERY loud and annoying squeal.

There are only 2 belts on this car, timing and alternator. Power steering and AC have been removed.
The alternator belt is brand new, less than 20 miles.
The water pump is supposedly less than 10,000 old (installed by previous owner)
I have taken the belt off, cleaned it and roughed up the edges to ensure grip.
The pulleys have been roughed up to ensure grip.
CRC Belt Conditioner has been sprayed on to aid in grip.
MFer still squeaks like a stuck banshee.

Here is a video. Please beware. The squeak is terrible.

https://youtu.be/cIirM6py2Ec

[Reichart12]

If you went as far as to remove the belts to clean them, why not just replace them? Gets you 10k miles more of peace and both the belts are relatively cheap.

[MB07]

If you went as far as to remove the belts to clean them, why not just replace them? Gets you 10k miles more of peace and both the belts are relatively cheap.

I only pulled the alternator belt. I didn’t replace it because it’s 1. brand new and 2. it’s sounds like the water pump pulley might be the culprit.

[digger]

Has it been tensioned properly?

[MB07]

Has it been tensioned properly?

Yes it has.

[uturn]

Bad belt, bad alternator, bad water pump.
Spin the alternator or check it for play to rule it out. Once you install a new belt you will know if you need a new water pump.

[MB07]

Bad belt, bad alternator, bad water pump.
Spin the alternator or check it for play to rule it out. Once you install a new belt you will know if you need a new water pump.

I was afraid someone was going to say that. Water pumps are cheap but not so easy to replace. Alternators are east to replace but expensive-ish. Blast and damn.

How do you test the alternator? Just give the pulley a wiggle? Ive tested it with a multimeter and it tested fine. Is it the bearing that goes bad?

[dsphil]

Maybe it not the belt. Try to run it without the fan belt and see if it still squeaks.

[audiquattrot]

spray a little WD-40 on areas you suspect it might be squealing from.....then rule out.

my guess is the tension needs to be adjusted + the belt needs replacement esp if coolant got all over it.

[Kershaw]

FCP euro has sent me the wrong alternator belt several times in a row. It's too skinny and therefore it doesn't sit in the pulley properly. It sits way too low and the tensioner bottoms out before the belt is actually really snug. If your belt is not flush with the top of the pulley, get a fatter universal belt of a close size. Which might be 29", I'm not recalling exactly.

I had one very annoying rallycross event where the belt would fly off halfway through the run and then it was me flying to the finish before the car overheated. Then I had to coast far enough away and put the belt back on a very hot motor. It sucked.

[e30davie]

if i remember correctly the V belt is suppose to be 11mm wide, but most places just stock the 10mm?

I had same problem with suppliers around me. eventually i found an 11mm somewhere.

[MB07]

FCP euro has sent me the wrong alternator belt several times in a row. It's too skinny and therefore it doesn't sit in the pulley properly. It sits way too low and the tensioner bottoms out before the belt is actually really snug. If your belt is not flush with the top of the pulley, get a fatter universal belt of a close size. Which might be 29", I'm not recalling exactly.

I had one very annoying rallycross event where the belt would fly off halfway through the run and then it was me flying to the finish before the car overheated. Then I had to coast far enough away and put the belt back on a very hot motor. It sucked.

Dang. I got my alt belt from FCP. Its a Contitech 10X965.

[MB07]

spray a little WD-40 on areas you suspect it might be squealing from.....then rule out.

my guess is the tension needs to be adjusted + the belt needs replacement esp if coolant got all over it.

Lubing up the water pump pulley is a good idea, I'll have to try that.
I took the belt off and cleaned it off and scuffed the edged to promote adhesion.

[MB07]

Maybe it not the belt. Try to run it without the fan belt and see if it still squeaks.

The belt that runs the fan, also runs the alternator. How will that work?

[E30-325iS]

You wouldn't drive it like that, you'd run it just long enough to rule out the belt.
A few minutes won't hurt the car.