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squeak squEAK SQUEAKY

HaleYes

HaleYes

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Clay County, IL
I have a 96 XJ 91,XXX miles, 4.0, AW4, 242 D35, D30. When I turn on the air a very annoing squeak starts. It comes and goes throughout the throttle. Also when I turn the AC on the volt meter drops way down. Sometimes to the point the GEN light comes on. I can work the throttle and when the squeak goes away the volts come back up. I just seems to be at lower RPM's when it squeaks the most. But, it also will do it at hi-way speeds. I have taken a long screwdriver and tried to "listen" with it to my ear trying to loacate the squeak, and have had no sucess. It may be the belt slipping but it seems pretty snug. I found in another thread about how tight it should be and it is OK. It seems as if when I turn on the AC it is putting a much bigger load on it, which makes sense. I can drive aroud 24/7 with the AC off and no squeaky. I'm thinking it's a bearing, but which one is the question. Any thoughts would be appericated.
 
I just replaced my belt and I have a squeak with the ac on, no squeak at all with no ac, and mainly just on startup and takeoffs with the ac on. the belt on a cherokee should only have a quarter inch play in it, mines pretty tight but has a little more than a quarter inch play, I just need to tighten mine, my old belt full of cracks wouldn't even squeak, but it was tighter, i'd say, just tighten it a little
 
DDCxj said:
Did you check the A/C compressor and pulley?

Dean
Click to expand...

As far as a visual, it looks just fine. I didn't take it apart if thats what you mean. It is smooth when I do the screwdriver to the ear trick. That is with the screwdriver on the compressor, right next to the pulley. Kinda hard to put the screwdriver on the moving pulley!

I think I'm gonna tighten the belt up a little and see what happens.
Thanks guys, keep it comming.
 
I have this problem as well, I am leaning towards the compresser bearing. It will not make any noise if the compresser is off, but as soon as I turn on the defrost even (which engages the compresser) it will make the noise. I can turn it on at highway speeds and it will not make noise till I slow down, but when it does it squals horribly.
Any one fix this problem yet
My XJ is a 98 4.0 auto
Any other guesses?
 
AZ Jeff said:
Two words: BELT TENSION
Click to expand...

Four words: That mo- fo is tight! :laugh3:

I really tightened it up and still squeaky squeaky. Shouldn't I be able to pin-point the AC compressor with the screwdriver to the ear trick if it was the cause of the squeak? I may try a new belt too. It isn't in bad shape, but if it works it'll be a cheap fix and I'll have a spare.
 
Look VERY closely at the grooves in the pulley. Belts willl sometimes shed some of their material into the grooves. A new belt will not engage the pulley properly because the material in the base of the grooves prevent it from doing so. Use a very sharp pick and poke around in th grooves of the pulleys. Enigne off of course. See if that helps.
 
Well, I have a 96 as well, 105k miles, does the same exact thing! Frustrating, but it only does it at startup and i can usually make it go away by turing the AC off, then back on after a few seconds. And I was just going to post about this! I had the belt off recently working on the fan clutch, and is probably not as tight as what you're describing "mo-fo tight" :) but if we have the same problem, I wonder how it could just be a tension thing...
 
your ac compressor is either bad, or going bad. I have the same problem in my jeep. it still blows cold air, but the squeak is horrible. buckle up, they run in the $200 price range
 
uvaldetxj said:
your ac compressor is either bad, or going bad. I have the same problem in my jeep. it still blows cold air, but the squeak is horrible. buckle up, they run in the $200 price range
Click to expand...
is that new or used price?
 
I woudl suggest you go to NAPA and buy a "Click-it" belt tension measurement tool. Mo-Fo-Tight is not a great measurement. I am nearly convinced that the water pump failures I have had are related to my tightening the belt too much. Imagine a 160 lb person sitting on each of the pulley's that the belt wraps on while they are running, and that is the normal tension.

Secondly, I am not sure that the bearings on the compressor are bad. If they are, I am not convinced that the voltage drop you are seeing will go away once they are replaced. you may have more than one problem. The electrical one may be related to the circuit that is activated when your A/C is on.

Here is a thought. The electrical problem is a short that causes the voltage to drop and the A/C clutch to slip causing the squeel! Check the insulation on the wire to the A/C clutch.
 
is it possible that the clutch itself is worn out. i have the same problem with a really loud squealing. but i thought it was the clutch worn down so much that metal was rubbing metal. if this isnt a stupid thought is it possible to just buy the A/C clutch?
 
Get a can of belt dressing. Spray the belt. If the squeek goes away, it was the belt. A belt can get burnished and harden and no matter how tight you get it, it will slip.
 
sjx40250 said:
...Here is a thought. The electrical problem is a short that causes the voltage to drop and the A/C clutch to slip causing the squeel! Check the insulation on the wire to the A/C clutch.
Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing this out. I checked this exact wiring and noticed that it is worn through! Guess I know what one of my weekend projects will be.
 
old_man said:
Get a can of belt dressing. Spray the belt. If the squeek goes away, it was the belt. A belt can get burnished and harden and no matter how tight you get it, it will slip.
Click to expand...
That's NOT the best way to check for belt slip. All belt dressing does is mask the real problem---a hardened/dried belt that should be replaced.

Here is an old-time mechanic's trick: The best way to check for belt squeal is to slowly pour water on the belt while it's running. If the squeal goes away temporarily while the water is present, you have a belt that needs retensioning and/or replacing. If the squeal persists, then it's something besides the belt making the noise.
 
Well, I replaced the belt this weekend. No more squeaky, and the Volt Meter dosen't move at all. Those darn things are kinda expensive. I paid $35 at NAPA. A little more than I was expecting but, who cares, I now have a cool and quite XJ!
 
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