Drive belt squeal.

[Badmunky]

Ok so I have a problem with my drive belt slipping.

I know why its doing it. But am not sure how to go about fixing it.

The problem is that the last owner parked the Jeep for almost a year.
And all the pulleys rusted. I did my best to clean them with a wire brush. But I do not drive this Jeep every day as its mostly just a wheeling toy.

I have tightened the belt as much as I can without causing problems. But it is still slipping and squealing.

Every time it starts slipping my voltage drops, my temp starts climbing, and I lose my power steering. If I turn the A/C on that will guarantee it will start slipping.


I plan to replace the clutch fan with an E-fan soon, as the clutch is failing. And will be changing the belt again do to needing a shorter belt. So I want to fix the problem at the same time.


So what can I do short of removing every pulley and dipping it in rust remover?

And what can I do to prevent this from coming back later?


Thanks guys!


Pic of my Jeep just because JEEP! :viking:

 

[8Mud]

Various reasons for that squeal.

Number one is belt tension, which can be tricky. It should be tighter than you think, but to tight and you may be replacing a water pump. Gates makes a fairly inexpensive tension tester.

A bearing is trying to seize. A/C or power steering is the most likely.

Your belt is oil soaked and it slips, or your belt is coolant soaked and squeals whether it slips or not. The cure for both is to wash (scrub with a brush) the belt with hot water and mid suds, dish washing soap works well. Rinse well, repeat.

Cleaning off the pulleys is a questionable tactic, I do it, but I honestly don't know whether it affects the squeal much.

A name brand silicon lubricate, formulated for rubber. Formulated for rubber is important, read the label. It softens the belt and helps it not to slip. May take a few applications over a period of weeks, but eventually seems to cure the problem for a long time. Unless you have a small coolant or oil leak that re-soaks the belt. I've had good luck with silicon lubricant on the belt, never seemed to hurt anything and most always helped, at east for awhile.

Check to make sure your water pump seal, thermostat housing or harmonic balancer seal isn't seeping. These are the more common seeps, but not all of the possibilities. A good quick test is to rub down the engine side of your battery with a white paper towel. Whatever seeps onto your belt often gets slung onto the battery.

 

[Badmunky]

OK so I am sure there are no bearings failing. It can sit and run for ever and it will make no noise unless the A/C comes on. BUT, it will stop doing it if you bring the revs up. And its the belt for sure.

Belt is new. Nothing on this Jeep leaks. (I know. unheard of right! LOL)

The pulleys are all rust covered. And I think that this is causing the belt to slip.

I did tighten the belt a little bit more, and that stopped the squeal completely! But I am now in fear of killing my water pump.
I am not new to cars. And I am sure this belt is to tight now. But I am now 100% sure there are no bad bearings in the drive system.

I am going to back the belt tension off a bit tomorrow. And then start looking for the parts for an E-fan conversion and a new belt.

 

[8Mud]

Permatex (or another name brand) silicon rubber lubricant. If you are going to buy another belt anyway give it shot. It softens the belt some and coats the pulleys a little.

If you've tried belt dressing or sometimes called belt anti slip or whatever, get it off of there, it makes it worse not better.

A fine line between tight enough and too tight. The Gates Krikit http://www.amazon.com/Gates-91107-Belt-Tension-Tester/dp/B000MUTAGS works pretty well.

 

[lazyxj]

Pull the belt and check the idler and every spinning bearing. Idlers are know to fail regularly.
The belt's tension should be checked with Krikit belt tension tester and set the FSM specs (180-200-lbs new, 140-160-lbs for a used belt).
Excessive tension will wear things out faster. Inadequate tension will cause slipping and destroy the belt.
http//www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=5915781

 

[muddypunk]

Hand eye coordination easy test for belt tension. Pinch and twist the belt between the idler and power steering pump it should be able turn it vertical with a decent bit of force turn past straight it's loose can't turn it far enough it's tight. Squeaky belt for me was a little dirt crap on the harmonic balancer wire brush exposed it for me.

 

[XJ 2.5]

Pull the belt back off and see if all the components spin freely (except for the harmonic balancer of course), could be a bad bearing in alternator, water pump, ps pump, etc.