Serpentine Belt Question

95Trooper

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Location
WNC
what would cause a serpentine belt to squeal just a few days after being replaced? the old belt was squealing bad and i replaced it with a new dayco belt and it completely stopped squealing and was as quiet as ever but now fast forward to this morning on the way to work the belt squealed about half way to work and then just stopped. it did the same thing to me on my lunch break. is there a different belt someone would recommend? thanks. this is on a grand cherokee with a 5.2 by the way..
 
Could be the idler (tension) pully seizing up or maybe your power steering pump is low on fluid or going bad.
 
it has a brand new idler pulley and a/c compressor. i'm not sure what's causing it to squeal but it's beyond annoying!
 
check the crank damper, sometimes the outer portion separated from the hub. It will start to walk forward, causing belt misalignment and all sorts of mayhem.
 
Misalignment or just cheap rubber compound in the belt...try adding some belt dressing
 
take a bar of soap, with the vehicle running, hold the soap against the back of the belt(smooth side) if the noise goes away it's a smooth pulley. if it stays the same try it on the ribbed side and if it goes away it's a grooved pulley. or it's a junk belt (it does happen)
I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU GET YOUR HAND CAUGHT SOMEWHERE, i do this all the time, you just need to be careful.
 
transman731 said:
take a bar of soap, with the vehicle running, hold the soap against the back of the belt(smooth side) if the noise goes away it's a smooth pulley. if it stays the same try it on the ribbed side and if it goes away it's a grooved pulley. or it's a junk belt (it does happen)
I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU GET YOUR HAND CAUGHT SOMEWHERE, i do this all the time, you just need to be careful.
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Hey man I tried that the other day on both the smooth and ribbed side and the noise got worse. The belt just had a little chirp to it before but would go away when the Jeep warmed up and ever since I did that it squeals constantly and it's louder than ever. Any suggestions?
 
Sounds like you need to get a new belt. At least you can verify that it's not the problem if the squeal persists.
 
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