lseguy

Yes, ive searched, and do understand that this may be a common issue. Belts are less than a year old as is the tensioner and a couple of pulleys and the water pump. After replacing all of these, all was quiet. Then about 3-4 months later, noticed on startup (especially on colder mornings) there would be a noticeable squeal. Car runs great/fine, but the squeal is annoying. Engine is totally stock, but the way. Found this video. Wondering if this is the solution? (aftermarket belts).

Any input is appreciated.

equitiesguy

Have you checked if it's one of the pulleys you replaced? Cold squeak could easily be a bearing rather than the belt itself.

lseguy

Thanks. When its squealing, if I slowly pour a small amount of water directly onto the serpentine belt itself, the squealing stops completely. (temporarily). This indicates that it's a belt issue, not pulley.

Yuille36

I just think that you should change the belt, because it's obviously compromised, due to slipping.

Pmarino

Not sure I understand the logic. If I put water on my belt, it causes the belt to slip, putting less stress on the squeaky culprit....so no squeek. UNTIL it dries, gets grip and the squeek returns.

IMO; If you want to check pulleys, water pump, A/C , P/S ect... remove serp belt and rotate them by hand.

lseguy

Utilizing water as a troubleshooting method on belt squeaks is a longstanding method used by many shops/mechanics...

lseguy

https://www.cartechbooks.com/techtips/serpbelt/

Belt noises can be diagnosed with a spray bottle of water. With the engine running and the sound audible, lightly mist the grooved side of the belt with water. If the noise disappears or lessens, but then shortly returns, the problem is probably a misaligned pulley. If the noise immediately increases after the belt is misted, the belt is slipping.


https://dayco.com.au/pageBANK/docume...bottletest.pdf

Pmarino

Misaligned pulley = bad bearing or lose bolt holding it in the block.

Fascinating But I'm still pulling the belt and checking everything by hand

MSG 55G

Had the same issue with cold starts with squealing noise that’s annoying and embarrassing but stops when engine warmed up. My fixed was the serpentine tensioner and issue resolved after changing it.