Belt Squeal when A/C is on

IslanderOffRoad · May 24, 2007

I finally got my a/c working again yesterday, I've owned the Jeep for a year now and it hasnt worked since before I bought it.

Now when I'm idling or at a low speed I get a nasty belt squeal when the a/c is on. The belt is a few months old. Any Idea what is causing this and what I can do to get it to stop?

Jess · May 24, 2007

You need to make sure this is a belt squeal and not bearings going bad. If it is just the belt, while it is running dump some water on it and it should quiet down or stop. If the water does not help, something on the pulley system is about to take a dump.

Saudade · May 24, 2007

I'd also check the tension. New belts stretch out quite a bit.

MattS · May 24, 2007

I second this.

Absdad · May 25, 2007

Islander,
I just dealt with same issue this weekend with my wifes 98. I had changed the waterpump and after words got this horrible squeek. Had a hard time pinpointing it because the noise is so loud and get bounced off the open hood. Changed the belt twice and it still did it.
It would only do it when the a/c was on so everyone was saying compressor. Sprayed a little belt dressing on the belt and the squeel went away.
Ended up taking the belt off and found that the pulleys all had an oily residue from anti-freeze from the waterpump swap. Cleaned the pulleys with brake cleaner and cleaned the belt off real good.
No more squeel.

kevin s · May 25, 2007

Squeaking is usually because of mis-aligned components, assuming you've already checked what the other guys have already suggested. Just sight down the belt and see what's happening. Since there is no real way to adjust the alignment of the stuff, then the next thing to check is each component. Hope for an idler pully going bad. That's cheap and easy. If your harmonic ballancer is going bad, it will probably spit out the belt, so it doesn't sound like that. Anything else making noises besides the belt?

ZachMan · May 25, 2007

squek whe nA/C is on = tighten your belt.

XJadam · May 26, 2007

My jeep has had this problem as well, for me it was my idler pully. I had to replace the damn thing twice. My last time was at 90,000 or so. I am at 138,000 and have not had a problem yet.

ptf18 · May 27, 2007

Replaced the old cracked belt with a AZ DuraLast about 1k ago. Darn thing squelled like a pig. I was worried it was a componant but everything checked out good. Still had the squel after changing the darn WP. Silly me.

Took some advise from the site and dumped H2O on the belt while it ran...quite squelling.

Put a Gates belt on for $50.....NO MORE SQUEL....wont buy another "cheap" belt...or anything else...tisnt worth the work to save a couple bucks.

IslanderOffRoad · May 28, 2007

its driving me insane because its so intermittent, whenever i have the jeep cool enough to work on it, or a free minute to check, it wont squeal!

i know i need a new bracket for my p/s pump, the upper bolt likes to back itself out, i re-tighten it every few weeks, it is tight at the moment.

Prowler · May 28, 2007

Mine was the idler pully. Look at the belt from the side and if you think there could be play, take it off and take your pully off. you can tell from there.

Belt Squeal when A/C is on

IslanderOffRoad

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Jess

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Saudade

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MattS

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Absdad

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kevin s

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ZachMan

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XJadam

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ptf18

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IslanderOffRoad

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