04 cobra. 2.76 upper, stock lower. When I got it, the belt squeaked constantly. We put on the metco dual ball bearing idler 4 piece kit and the recommended 75.1" belt. The belt is super tight and was very hard 2 get on so I know the belt isn't too small. The problem now is the belt squeaks on startup. Squeaks for about 5 minutes and then completely goes away. Any ideas? Or should I just learn to live with it?
cobra belt squeaking. ideas?
- Thread starter footbraker
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i have the exact same thing going on with mine!!i changed out my idler pullies and noticed, the one pulley where the squeek is coming from....idk if youve changed yours but the pullies sit on these little nipple like things and well the one that is squeeking the nipple was broke.so im trying to find out if i can purchase that bracket that the front pullies sit on.but ya mine is only on start up when its cold..then it goes away.and my belt was almost impossible to get on so i wonder if maybe the belts are too tight?idk...
I have been fighting the same problem for the past few months.Belt was squeeking on start up in cold weather then progressively got worst as the weeks went by.I changed the idler pullies ,still squeeked ,changed the belt. Ok for about 3 months now squeeks alittle bit,especially when the air is moist, for a few minutes on start up and this is in the summer heat. So I am looking at the belt tensioner may be the problem. By the way when I had the supercharger belt off ,for replacement, I ran the engine to make sure the accessory belt wasn't the problem.That was quiet. Anyone have any input?
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same prob...i cant figure out where its coming from.
same here... i lost count of how many belts i have bought in the past month, now try the gatorback from goodyear ,it was the only belt that worked for me the problem im having here in south florida is that we have a bad batch of of gatorback belts that have not been cut right causing then to ride on the edge of the pulley and slowly stringing off, my last gatorback belt was there for a good two years with no problems or any noises, if you buy one of these belts...install it and look at your supercharger pulley and make sure is centered on the pulley not riding on the edge. im running a gates HD (green belt) now and it squeaks on start up when is cold and on humid days its a PITA.
mines bad but i think it's from the normal wear and tear right now i have a smaller pulley that's going on so it's no use for me to buy a new belt when i'm going to buy another one from the smaller pulley. i just get dial soap and run it on the underside of the belt it takes it away temporarily for a 2 days or so.
Yup, sounds like same thing I ran into. Have a 2.76 upper, metco 2# lower and billetflow idlers. After about 2 months the squeaks started getting progressively worse until it sounded like a bad throw out bearing. Changed the belt about 3 weeks ago and yesterday I noticed the squeak again...looks like it's slowly going to start again. Seems like letting the car sit for a few days makes it worse.
You can try spraying on some belt conditioner on there, it seemed to help a bit on my previous belt.
Is it possible it's the belts that can't take the extra tension? I have a Napa belt...maybe gatorback is the way to go? :dw:
You can try spraying on some belt conditioner on there, it seemed to help a bit on my previous belt.
Is it possible it's the belts that can't take the extra tension? I have a Napa belt...maybe gatorback is the way to go? :dw:
I got a Gatorback and that only lasted 3 months then it started squeeking again. Went with the Dayco and now like I said it is now chirping on startup but going away after a few minutes?
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Same situation here... So annoying! I am pretty sure that the Gates belts are crap. My Gatorback was great last year but the Gates start screaming after a few weeks. It actually prevents me from driving my car because I cant stand the noise and it lasts for about 10 mins and never completely goes away. My only problem is that I cant find a 78.5" Gatorback now...
had this problem as well. Running a dayco poly cog belt. put a little silicone grease on the back of the belt and it went away for a few days to a week. Now its back. At idle it will usually go away but as I accelerate it comes back and just gets louder. They guy I bought the car from had a strange idler setup so I'm thinking about just doing it all over.
Maybe its an accessory pulley that is causing it? A couple of you guys mentioned swapping out a belt and it went away but came back. Maybe a pulley is wearing the belt at a certain point and is causing it??? :shrug:
I feel like I'm driving a beater when I'm in traffic.. lol
Maybe its an accessory pulley that is causing it? A couple of you guys mentioned swapping out a belt and it went away but came back. Maybe a pulley is wearing the belt at a certain point and is causing it??? :shrug:
I feel like I'm driving a beater when I'm in traffic.. lol
I DID IT! Well through a process of elimination, it came down to the tensioner for the blower belt. Replaced it and with the old belt there was a slight noise above idle but not as bad as before. Replaced the belt and tensioner and then it all went away. Went out and did a nice 130mph pull with some cruising and no noise.
I believe that the spring in the tensioner is what was ultimately causing the squeaking sound.
Any of you fellas try this yet?
I believe that the spring in the tensioner is what was ultimately causing the squeaking sound.
Any of you fellas try this yet?
2.93, 4lb lower, 100mm idlers, 3.2 alt and notched tensioner. I'm running the gatorback belt. I couldn't get the gates belt to stop squeaking for all that long.
I bought a 2nd gates and a week later it started doing itI I took it off and cleaned up the belt and pullies with brake parts cleaner and a bit of steel wool. That lasted for about a month or two, IIRC. After that, I went with a gatorback. 3 years now without so much as a chirp.
I bought a 2nd gates and a week later it started doing itI I took it off and cleaned up the belt and pullies with brake parts cleaner and a bit of steel wool. That lasted for about a month or two, IIRC. After that, I went with a gatorback. 3 years now without so much as a chirp.
I just put a new tensioner on yesterday and that fixed my squeeking also !! Hope it lasts . I purchased my tensioner from Tousley Ford for $51.00 shipped.I had gone to my local Ford dealer and they can only sell the tensioner with the bridge and the idler pullies for $600.00 . Crazy !!! Here to find out you can get the tensioner alone for a Lightning truck for $51.00 . This is identical to the Cobra tensioner (same part #) just you don't have to get the other stuff. :beer:
Well the squeeking is back but not as bad!! I read up on this problem and I put a 36" level on my crank pulley and the blower pulley and found the blower pulley is .020 off. Is there a way to shim the blower pulley out to match the crank pulley? If so where do I buy them? :shrug:Thanks
Finally fixed
I fixed the chirping belt problem and found that my alternator was not aligned with the other pullies. So I shimmed the back of the alternator to move it forward and solved my problem with the belt noise.This is after going through the tensioner , 2 belts and reichard idler pullies. I used a 3 Ft. straight edge , laying it against the crank pulley ,then I checked the alignment of the other pullies. Its not a hard fix.
:banana::banana::banana::banana:
I fixed the chirping belt problem and found that my alternator was not aligned with the other pullies. So I shimmed the back of the alternator to move it forward and solved my problem with the belt noise.This is after going through the tensioner , 2 belts and reichard idler pullies. I used a 3 Ft. straight edge , laying it against the crank pulley ,then I checked the alignment of the other pullies. Its not a hard fix.
:banana::banana::banana::banana:
Gates belts suck. My first one chirped after 5 months, then I replaced it again and after 2 months chirped again, this was only a few hundred miles. Put on a gatorback and quite for over a yr now. Best decision ever to made to get rid of the gates.
I know this is an old thread but I recently had the squeeky belt problem arise and was pulling my hair out trying to figure it out so I thought I would share what fixed it for me to hopefully it will help others. First I had a 2lb lower pulley and swapped it to a 4lb lower. I also installed a 3.2 metco alternator pulley and then installed the proper size gates serpentine belt. Car was fine. I drove it and the next day started cold and a horrible squeel/squeek noise was present. The noise mostly went away oncethe car was warmed up fully. Since my car had been sitting for several years I replaced all the stock idlers with metco units as well as replaced the pulley on the tensioner. Still squeeked. I then figured out what size belt would work from Ford and installed a Motorcraft serpentine belt on it. Good for a day and then Squeeeeeek! Urgh.
I had my lower idler pulley in the lowest hole which put it very close to the new 4lb pulley. So i moved that idler pulley up to the middle slot on my bracket and ran down to autozone and bought the cheapo Duralast belt of the correct size. (it was all they had in stock). The belt now had a much smoother transition coming off the crank and then around the lower idler. Needless to say I've driven it about 300 miles now and no noise at all with the cheapo belt.
So if you are having belt noise you may want to try moving that lower idler pulley to a different spot and see if it helps.
I had my lower idler pulley in the lowest hole which put it very close to the new 4lb pulley. So i moved that idler pulley up to the middle slot on my bracket and ran down to autozone and bought the cheapo Duralast belt of the correct size. (it was all they had in stock). The belt now had a much smoother transition coming off the crank and then around the lower idler. Needless to say I've driven it about 300 miles now and no noise at all with the cheapo belt.
So if you are having belt noise you may want to try moving that lower idler pulley to a different spot and see if it helps.
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01cobravortech
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My Gates chirps in the cold weather. But once she's warmed up and I stomp on the gas, she chirp no more.
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