Put belt back on...now it sqweels...?

So I had my Jeep sitting for about 2 weeks while I took apart things to put in a new timing chain + gears, timing cover gasket, valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, and a new harmonic balancer. Well I put everything back on the other day, started her up today and noticed a slight squeak, so I hit the gas a few times hoping it would go away and it just became loud and consistent (squeaking the whole time).

Well I went out and bought one of those Napa belt tension-er checker things...I tightened it up till it was at about 170ft-lbs and it still squeaks the whole time!

Is this something I should drive around with for a bit and see what happens? Or should I rip it all apart again to check things? The belt looks fine, and it holds the same pressure after I tighten the bolts, and it never made this sound before I started working on it. I suppose it's possible I didn't tighten things up enough, or maybe I did too much (pulley wise)? What about shot bearings? (not sure how it would happen just randomly though.

So what should I do?

Thanks.
~Scott

No worries, mine did the exact same thing until the shine from the new belt wore down. I tried putting belt dressing on it and all that, went away for about a min then started again, until that shine went away.

If you worried about it, take it off again and spin all the accessories and see which spins slower then the others or seems like it take more effort to spin. I noticed some rubber (or whatever the shine on the belt was) building up on the water pump pully where the back side of the belt runs across it, so i tihnk maybe soon i might need to replace it, but for now its doing it job fine =)

Long story short, mine did it also and its fine, dont over tighten it. live with it a week or so and it should go away.

Ed

might have the belt going the opposite direction now.
get a goodyear gatorback, never slip and worth the $. very quiet.

Hmm...well I suppose I'll drive around a little tonight with her and see what happens.

My dad took the belt off, and he couldnt find the tension adjuster so he pryed it off...and in the process put a nick in one of the pulleys. He smoothed it out, but I'm thinking it might be TOO smooth. Like I said though, I'll drive around and see what happens.

Thanks.
~Scott

Is your belt still new?

Per AllData:

Belt Tension Specifications
New 800 - 900 N (180 - 200 lbs.)
Used 623 - 712 N (140 - 160 lbs.)
NOTE: Belt is considered new if it has been used 15 minutes or less.

my gatorback slips like crazy with the a/c on but only for about 2 minutes once it is on. You can ease the a/c on so it won't slip but it's tough.

reelbigdundy87 said:

my gatorback slips like crazy with the a/c on but only for about 2 minutes once it is on. You can ease the a/c on so it won't slip but it's tough.

Click to expand...

Yea, Any belt can slip lol.

Is the harmonic balancer fully seated? Just wondering if it's misaligned or shifted. Also as pointed out, the tension spec is different for new versus used. It might be worth using a piece of hose as a stethoscope and locating where the noise is coming from. Bad idler pulleys are common, but I'm skeptical that doing the timing chain would prompt it to get worse. Spraying water on the belt might help sort out if its the belt or an idler pulley as well.

Well the sqweel stayed for probably 10 min. when I drove it tonight, I just cranked up the music to drain it out...then I noticed it was gone.

I can't really hear it unless the hood is up, or my windows are down and the music is off.

The tension is good now, I'll just check and see if it sqweels anymore in the AM.

~Scott