Think I need a new belt??

[airmanb2b]

WTF?? 4th drive of the season. Probably about 500 miles on it. Luckily, I stock ordered one at napa months ago. Belt has black residue on the smooth side. Started making a little noise yesterday and all hell broke loose today. Alignment seems fine. No fraying and no tracking. Don't know how to load videos. Below is the youtube link. VBelt squeal - YouTube

 

[zporta]

sounds like a noisy bearing or something, not the belt making that noise

 

[zporta]

my dads excursion ac pump made a similar sound to that, but much louder.

try and find the exact location of the noise. Spray some some lubrication and see if the sound disappears for longer

 

[airmanb2b]

Noise is coming right from the belt/aux idler. If I spray the bearing on the idler, noise stays. Spray the top of the belt, noise is gone. If I remove the pulley from the aux idler, it goes away.

 

[airmanb2b]

It's either the belt or brand new double bearing idler. I did get quite a bit of oil/antifreeze/grease on the belt this winter

 

[zporta]

Did you try squirting the idler bearing or oil it before reinstalation?

It just doesn't sound like the belt

 

[airmanb2b]

I did not oil it. Just sprayed it with water from the back side. Maybe glazing on the belt when it hits the smooth idler, it is causing a squeal? I'll have the new belt on tomorrow. Hopefully that fixes it. If not, guess the new idler with 100 miles on it is junk.

 

[airmanb2b]

Goes away with a little gas and rpm's as well

 

[zporta]

You could try replacing just the bearings, not sure if that's possible or not.

 

[airmanb2b]

Thanks for the insight man! So went back over everything. All the pullies seem to turn smoothly and not catch. There is a fine black sheen and glaze on the belt that leads me to believe I got something on it at some point and contaminated it.

 

[airmanb2b]

One thing to note as well, could barely hear it totally warm yesterday. After a total night of cool down, thats what it sounds like. Goes away when totally warm.

 

[2001Cobrabuddy]

Had the same issue after installing a 2.6 pulley. I used the pulley puller to move the pulley farther away from the shaft and that resolved my issue. Seems like the pulley was installed farther along the shaft then it needed to be.

 

[airmanb2b]

Thanks man. Wouldn't it have started squealing from the get go if it was a blower pulley? I am currently running beasts old blower so the pulley has been on it awhile without issue.

 

[airmanb2b]

Like I said before, removed the aux idler and the noise goes away. Maybe belt is glazed causing the idler pulley to slip on it?

 

[2001Cobrabuddy]

The belt did not squeal aftet initial install. After a couple days the squeaking started which lead me to buy a gates belt. The same issue popped up a couple days later, after extensive trials and trublations this was my last option. Pullin the pulley slighty forward eliminated the issue for good. The noise would be less prominent after the engine bay was fully warm. So remove the aux idler when the car is cold and see if the issue is still there.

 

[2001Cobrabuddy]

Doesn't look like beast runs a larger crank pulley, might be the reason for the slight difference. I'm running a 10 percent IW pulley myself.

 

[airmanb2b]

Thanks for the info. It does look like the belt rides a little further back on the idler than it should. I'll replace the belt today and see what's up. If it comes back ill be looking for a puller. Being that it is a metco Pulley/hub, I wonder if there would be a way to shim between the Pulley and hub with some small washers or something?

 

[03 TOPLESSSVT]

Gates green stripe is the cure. A bad belt will sound like a bearing is shot on an idler or two.

 

[Steve@BAS]

If there is something on the belt, make sure to clean all the pullies before putting the new belt on! GL with it. I had belt squeal after installing my 10%, so I put on the thump tensioner, and switched back to the factory belt and no problems since. Are you running the longer belt that came with the lower? With your thump you can run the shorter one.

 

[airmanb2b]

If there is something on the belt, make sure to clean all the pullies before putting the new belt on! GL with it. I had belt squeal after installing my 10%, so I put on the thump tensioner, and switched back to the factory belt and no problems since. Are you running the longer belt that came with the lower? With your thump you can run the shorter one.

That's good info. I'm currently running the 100852hd green belt. Definitely have some cleaning to do. There is black gummy crap on the thump pulley. Hopefully napa is not bsing me and they did still have my belt. If not, I still have a stocker and a 100852 standard belt.