drive belt squeek

[aharon250]

One of the drive belts I'm pretty sure the one for the fan squeeks just a little bit all the time at idle but not at all when moving. I sprayed some drive belt stuff on it and it stops for a day or two then comes back. The belt was replaced by the dealer less then a year ago but is there a way to tighten it? or maybe its just dirty and needs to be cleaned?

[hellrot325]

No way to tighten it other than replace the tensioner if it is bad...which it may be.

[Mirko]

Remove the cap on the tensioner and tighten it. I had the same issue, ended up taking off my belt and just putting it back on and tightening the tensioner better and havent had an issue since. Give that a go before you replace anything. It might work.

[dfyoung10]

Make sure your alternator bushings aren't loose, causing the belt to be misaligned. Otherwise the belt may still be bad.

[aharon250]

Why would the belt be bad? It was replaced less than a year ago.. And remove what cap? Isn't it a self adjusting one?

[Mirko]

It is but I mean why can't it come loose. I had a nasty little squeal under idle and I took the belt off and gave the alternator a little lube and then made sure to really tighten the tensioner pulley. I mean I sprayed the alternator pulley before and it didn't go away so I assume me tightening the tensioner worked. The cap is on the tensioner pulley.

[ublemaschine]

I have a tensioner pulley bearing that is bad causing a chirping sound at idle. Just got my new pulley in the mail and haven't had a chance to put it on yet. You can verify the location of the noise by popping the cap off of the pulley then listening to the bolt head with a long screw driver or stethoscope (if you have one around). You will be able to tell if it is from the tensioner pulley very easily. You could re tighten it and it may fix it, but I got a new one for 20 bucks so I figured I would just replace it. If the belt is actually slipping due to the tensioner being bad it is a bit more expensive. Something like 80ish for the tensioner.

[ublemaschine]

I had a nasty little squeal under idle and I took the belt off and gave the alternator a little lube and then made sure to really tighten the tensioner pulley.

Careful not to over tighten and snap the bolt or you will be buying a new tensioner for sure! I had to fix a car that someone did a similar home repair and broke off a bolt for an idler pulley behind the timing case in the block on an MB engine (I'm sure they regretted it after getting the bill).

IDK off hand what the torque for the tensioner pulley is, but I would advise finding out and using that rather than your judgment.