Squealing SERP belt!!! Out of ideas

chuzie · Jan 4, 2014

351w EFI
Explorer front dress w/ a/c
Running Gates belt K060960 (96-5/8")

She squeals constantly when cold. It reduces in intensity when warm at idle but above idle it is screaming! The belt is relatively new with maybe 1000 miles. It replaced another belt that was doing the same thing.

The belt wear indicator on the explorer tensioner is showing good and tight.

A little water on the belt shuts it up so I know it is not a bearing.

I don't see anything that is obviously out of alignment so I am stumped.

Thoughts?

ScanmanSteven · Jan 4, 2014

Yes and no. Take a bar of soap right by the alternator and carefully let it rub inside the belt. If the squealing stops then that means the belt is slipping, I think. Have you had any type of oil leak? Try spraying brake or carb cleaner which will get rid of the oil but momentarily will squeal like crazy. I'm kinda fighting the same issue due to the power steering hose breaking earlier this year. I haven't been successful in totally stopping the squeal yet, I hope spraying it more will clean it better. Good luck.

broncnaz · Jan 4, 2014

While the belt wear indicator may be showing good on the tensioner the tensioner may just be weak.

chuzie · Jan 4, 2014

I will do a deflection test when i get home to find out if it is in limits.

bronconut73 · Jan 4, 2014

I've heard of guys having to get a different length belt than what they started with.
Infact I've heard they went through quite a few before dialing it in.
I'm sure I heard it here.

chuzie · Jan 4, 2014

I did the same thing. If anything, this belt is a hair on the short side. Gotta have full rotation of tensioner just to get the sucker on and that is with a fight.

OklahomaBroncoB · Jan 4, 2014

Use some Pam lol

ENDLIFE · Jan 5, 2014

Think about what you said; "A little water on the belt, so you know it's not a bearing". There has to be something that's causing friction, such as a bearing starting to fail on a water pump, AC compressor, or power steering pump. Take the belt off and turn all the components by hand to see if any of your components are difficult to turn. Make sure your idler pulley isn't too hard to turn, as that is a common item for bearing failure.

DirtDonk · Jan 5, 2014

That's your best bet initially I would think. Check each component. Assuming you haven't done that already that is.

I've never tried this, but just thought of it when I read Scanman's post. While the engine is idling and it's squealing, rub the soap lightly on the smooth side of the belt only. First of all, it's easier and therefore safer! But what I'm thinking is that if the sound goes away with just the back of the belt lubed, then you know that the squealer is one of the idlers or water pump or any other accessory with a smooth pulley.
If that doesn't stop it, then do the ribbed side.

It's just easier to control and narrow down than spraying something.
Of course, just because one pulley is the one doing the squealing, doesn't actually guarantee that it's the one causing it.
But it's a start.

Good luck. Never had to track down a squealer in a serp setup before. I have always been lucky and heard the actual component going out first.

Paul

ugly74 · Jan 5, 2014

Did any of the pulleys ever get coolant on them? Did you clean them up before you put on the new belt?
I did a timing belt on an isuzu for a lady....made a coolant mess and i didnt think much of it until the new belt constantly made an obnoxious racket. Cleaned all the pulleys, new belt, noise's gone.

ransil · Jan 5, 2014

inspect all the pulleys they need to be smooth.
clean all the pulleys with a degreaser ( purple, orange, green) using a brush.
Install a new belt.

badmuttstang · Jan 5, 2014

Did the soap thing on many a v belt back in the day and have done it on serpentine belts as well work but more of a temporary fix. As other have stated check all bearings most likely idler pulley if tensioner is right on the mark for being tight than belt may be a little long or tensioner might be weak like said earlier.

chuzie · Jan 5, 2014

All great suggestions fellas. Will report back tomorrow. Thanks.

Ourobos · Jan 5, 2014

Wrong length belt (need a shorter belt IMHO), or bad tensioner

8ntdone · Jan 5, 2014

I had put a v8 explorer motor in a ranger a few years back and after I got it running the belt would squeal after a few days . I did the same thing you had done with water and sprays, it stopped it temporarily. I thought it might have been that I had painted the pulleys so I cleaned the paint off of the surfaces, still squealed bought new belts and it would come back after a couple of days . I was getting frustrated so one day I loosened the bolts on the drivers side bracket to get a little movement, then while running I grabbed the a/c pump and pulled it towards the front off the truck and the squealing stopped. I ended up installing a large washer on two of the bolts between the head and the bracket, after I thought back I realized the front brackets came off of an explorer that had been hit on the drivers front corner and the bracket was bent slightly . I drove the ranger like that for two years no problems.
may not be your case but was my experience.

66' bronco · Jan 5, 2014

One thing u might check is if your power steering pulley is either not on far enough or is installed on too far. The end of the pump shaft and the pulley outmost edge should be even. If it is either way it will make the belt squeal. Just something to check.

chuzie · Jan 5, 2014

I will check both a/c and ps. Thx.

Desert Thrasher · Jan 5, 2014

66' bronco said:
One thing u might check is if your power steering pulley is either not on far enough or is installed on too far. The end of the pump shaft and the pulley outmost edge should be even. If it is either way it will make the belt squeal. Just something to check.

Any reason why the ps pulley being slightly off would make it squeal? My serp belt squeals also and I know my pulley is not quite flush with the pump shaft. I use a BC multi-steer bracket and spaced it out so the belt is not at an angle. Maybe I should try to get the pulley flush and see what happens.

chuzie · Jan 5, 2014

Desert Thrasher said:
Any reason why the ps pulley being slightly off would make it squeal? My serp belt squeals also and I know my pulley is not quite flush with the pump shaft. I use a BC multi-steer bracket and spaced it out so the belt is not at an angle. Maybe I should try to get the pulley flush and see what happens.

I don't understand that either. How is there room for error in a stock setup.

Guess I will find out tomorrow.

badmuttstang · Jan 5, 2014

Thing is if the pulleys don't line up just right the sides of the belt can get eaten up or eat into the pulley this will cause a squeal. Sometimes the power steering pulley does not need to be flush with the shaft but almost always the one percent that doesn't is due to getting the rest of the pulleys to line up. Use a straight edge and make sure all pulley edges line up.

Squealing SERP belt!!! Out of ideas

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