Anyone else have this problem?

[SeanMc]

When it's raining outside or there is moisture in the air, you have a pulley that just shreaks like a banshee? No matter what pulley I have on there, the same thing happens :angry:

 

[mooseSHO46]

yeah i have that problem it ****** me off

 

[hawkeye18]

Your belt's too loose. High moisture lowers the friction coefficient of the belt, allowing it to squeal when it's tighter than it has to be to squeal when it's dry. Either tighten, or replace the belt.

 

[SeanMc]

Your belt's too loose. High moisture lowers the friction coefficient of the belt, allowing it to squeal when it's tighter than it has to be to squeal when it's dry. Either tighten, or replace the belt.

ATX...auto belt tensioner....How do you "adjust" that?

 

[hawkeye18]

The belt is past the tensioner's ability to, well, tension. This happened on my wife's car; the belt was so stretched out that the tensioner was maxed out and it still squealed every time it got remotely wet. A new belt fixed it right up.

Those accessory belts will stretch an amazing amount.

Edit: Your tensioner might be bad, too. I've seen that once, and only once. But I have seen it.

 

[HoustinoJillian]

ah another example of why hawkeye's thanks are so high.

 

[SeanMc]

Well then, I need to get a hold of Doug and see what length belt he uses since I have his UDPs.

 

[hawkeye18]

If the writing is still visible on the outside of the belt, specifically the part number, you should be able to show it to somebody at an AAP and they should be able to tell the length. The length of most belts is built into the part number. I learned this from my wife while she worked there.

FWIW, I Have UDPs and my belt is starting to do the same thing - squeal when wet and/or cold. Only for a few seconds at startup until it dries out... I know the belt's worn but I'm too lazy to get a new one! lol

Edit: Also, Justin, most of those are from a book I scanned lol...

 

[SeanMc]

Thank you.

 

[gurucomputers]

I had that issue a while back and it turned out to be the top pully under the alternator on my ATX. I replaced it with a good spare I had laying around and the screaching went away.

 

[ScottyDsntKno]

Squealing belt=too lose and since its an auto tensioner on the ATX that means its maxed out and you NEED a new belt. Trick I learned on mustangs with UDPs is to take the serpentine belt off and have someone with a wrench hold the tensioner all the way down. Then run a piece of string around all your pulleys the same way as the serpentine belt would go, pull it tight and mark the length. Once you have that length take the old serpentine belt to a parts store and get the same style belt that is 1/2" longer than the string measurement you took to give the tensioner some room to work.

Done and done.

 

[hawkeye18]

I had that issue a while back and it turned out to be the top pully under the alternator on my ATX. I replaced it with a good spare I had laying around and the screaching went away.

If it only squeals when it's wet, then odds are about 90% it's a loose belt (10% bad pulley/faulty accessory). if it squeals in all weather conditions, then odds are 60% it's a pulley, or the belt is just that damn loose.

 

[egroce11]

Hey Sean, dam your uglier than I am. I'm not going to tell you whats wrong because you've had some great advice already, but an OLD SCHOOL fix to the squealling is for you to find a girl friend and let the pig out from under the hood where your hiding her. Smile Sean

Really a temp fix until you get it fixed, try taking a bar of soap and rubbing the under side of the belt. It is old school, but does stop belt squeal.

Give me a call
Ernie.

 

[hawkeye18]

Or, you can get a can of belt dressing at your local AAP. It won't work for more than a couple hundred miles, but it'll work for a little bit.

 

[ScottyDsntKno]

Or, you can get a can of belt dressing at your local AAP. It won't work for more than a couple hundred miles, but it'll work for a little bit.

And it'll fling belt dressing all over your engine bay. Seriously it takes 5 minutes to swap out a serpentine belt.

 

[hawkeye18]

Actually, I've gotten it down to about a minute and a half. I don't even have to move the battery, but I've got skinny piano hands lol. But yeah, on an ATX there really is no reason to not just change it. It takes one 17mm socket and a wee bit of arm strength...

 

[itwonder]

One of the things Gates suggests trying is to turn the belt around.

 

[SeanMc]

Hey Sean, dam your uglier than I am. I'm not going to tell you whats wrong because you've had some great advice already, but an OLD SCHOOL fix to the squealling is for you to find a girl friend and let the pig out from under the hood where your hiding her. Smile Sean

Really a temp fix until you get it fixed, try taking a bar of soap and rubbing the under side of the belt. It is old school, but does stop belt squeal.

Give me a call
Ernie.

:laugh_ti::wave::thankyou:

I'll try to call your ugly ass this weekend. No promises, work just has me whooped, and it's not going to slow down in the foreseeable future.

 

[SeanMc]

Got a belt, and the squeal monster stopped. Belt size is an 837, I used an 835 since that's all the shop had available. So far, so good.

 

[hawkeye18]

sweet! Glad you got it fixed!