my squeal is back...serpentine belt

**leon phelps** · 08-30-2012, 03:14 AM

Hello,

Put an ls1 into a 65 impala. engine runs great.

having trouble with the serpentine belt squealing. so far, I have replaced water pump, belt, and harmonic balancer.

All items were new from a 2002 parts list of corvette accessories.

my belt is a gates belt. after the harmonic balancer replacement, the squeal went away for several hours of run time.

I have the gm orange antifreeze. all of my pulleys are straight. the tensioner and idler spin with a little resistence the way they are supposed to.

I see no leaks from the power steering pump. belt looks dry.

tensioner is within the arrows where it is supposed to be for tension. I do see it bounce under acceleration.

Last person I had look at it, said it appeared to be a bad harmonic balancer. I put a new bolt on when replacing it, did the hand tighten the tightened it over 100 degrees.

Is there a way to use a stethescope to listen for exactly where the sound is strongest?

Thanks for any help. very frustrated.

**pajeff02** · 08-30-2012, 03:47 AM

Some belts just squeal -- I have had issues with Kelly especially on our DD's. I always recommend the Goodyear Gatorback -- never had any issues running one of those. Easiest test is to get a spray can of belt dressing and with the engine running shoot your belt. A serpentine belt uses both sides so you'll have to hit it twice and see what your noise does. If it immediately goes away you know it is the belt and not anything else causing the noise. If the noise comes back, try applying a little extra pressure to the tensioner -- very carefully!!! Use either a 3/8" or 1/2" drive breaker bar and a socket that fits the bolt on the tensioner pulley. Without looking, I don't recall which direction you have to apply force, but if it is in a counterclockwise direction you'll have to be very gentle so as not to loosen the bolt. You're not going to go ape on it, just apply a bit more pressure than the tensioner is giving you and see if the noise dissipates. Could be the tensioner has lost just enough spring pressure to allow the belt to squeal.

**2002ssslp** · 08-30-2012, 05:29 AM

Pull the idler pully off and place your finger in the bolt hole. Put downward pressure on the pulley and rotate it back and forth. I it is not completely smooth then replace it.

**leon phelps** · 08-30-2012, 06:18 PM

the tensioner is counter clockwise to increase tension. it did not affect the squeal.

with the belt off, the tensioner seemed to go smoothly all the way through the range.

serpentine belts suck.

**pajeff02** · 08-31-2012, 03:01 AM

Belt dressing?

**Spaz** · 08-31-2012, 04:34 AM

there is a gm bulletin for belt squeal...

**Firebirdjones** · 08-31-2012, 05:13 AM

The problem with these surpentine belts is that if there is any misalignment,,,even the slightest that you can't see with the naked eye,,,it seems to cause a squeal or squeak over time. Those ribs and/or grooves are sensative to this stuff. (I'm a good ole fassion V-belt fan myself

)

Since you did a retro swap I wanted to ask if you used any aftermarket brackets for an airconditioner relocation kit or anything of the like??

I ask because I recently did a retro 6.0 swap in my 72 blazer,,,,used a relocation AC kit from Kwik Performance. It all bolts on nice and all,,,and looks great. But I've found now that after about 3,000 miles of driving I get a squeak that shows up (not a squeal but a squeak) that will get progressively louder the more I drive. I can replace the belt and like clock work it comes back after about 3,000 miles.

I've tried shimming the pulleys and 2 different brand belts but I get the same results. I'm certain it's the aftermarket bracket setup but since it looks good to the eye,,,,it's hard to determine where the adjustment needs to be. I've even had the belt push over 1 tooth on the AC compressor under hard acceleration (once in a great while) so that gives me something to concentrate on. Eventually I'll nail it down and stop it,,,,but it's a frustrating ordeal for sure, especially since I have to wait so long to see if I fixed the problem so it's taking me a while. Basically make a slight adjustment and drive for 3,000 miles,,,trial and error.

**leon phelps** · 09-01-2012, 05:34 AM

my accessories are all GM genuine parts that are BRAND NEW. I got a parts list for the 2002 Corvette and bought all of them (including the bolts) and bolted them up.

I have already replaced the water pump at close to $200 and harmonic balancer ($100). The belts I have used are too many to count.

I have a fancy gates laser belt alignment tool that is pretty much worthless. The grooves in the pulley are smaller than the laser head, so it does not exactly sit flush as needed to check the alignment.

If you wanted to hear it Spaz, I could bring to you. I am outside the city in Bristol.

**cammed goat** · 09-03-2012, 07:58 AM

It almost sounds like an accessory is slightly off kilter. At least to me. Just off enough to not let the belt kick off, but cause the noise.

**leon phelps** · 09-03-2012, 10:09 AM

I have a friend with a stethescope. We put it on the housings of the tensioner, power steering pump, alternator, and idler. None were emitting a squeal through the stethescope.

Water pump and harmonic balancer were already replaced with new twice, so the head scratching continues.

I did notice pressure when I removed the power steering cap. Could this be related?

**cammed goat** · 09-03-2012, 02:53 PM

Did you bleed out the power steering after the swap?

**leon phelps** · 09-04-2012, 12:06 PM

never bled the power steering pump. it has gone side to side plenty of times, the pump does not squeal when turned side to side.

**pajeff02** · 09-04-2012, 05:04 PM

Shoot it with some belt dressing. I have fought this issue on two of our cars. If that quiets it down, go get a Gatorback. If it doesn't, then you know you have another issue.

**leon phelps** · 09-06-2012, 01:23 PM

I decided to start taking the front end off. I think my power steering pump may be out of align slightly.

Please refrain from the use belt dressing suggestions. Putting a substance on their that will attract road grime to the whole area is not an option for me.

Anyone have a reason why my pump would be out of align? The pulley is straight and is a replacement one made of metal (a doorman part and not the gm plastic one since I read several stories about them coming apart).

Guess Ill take it apart tonight and see how it goes.

**pajeff02** · 09-06-2012, 02:09 PM

The use of belt dressing was suggested as a diagnostic aid -- not to continue using it. Carefully applied, it doesn't gunk anything up.

**Firebirdjones** · 09-06-2012, 02:32 PM

That sounds just like the little chirp I get with mine. It's starts out small like there is a bird under the hood, but after a few hundred more miles it gets progressively worse to the point it's time to make a slight adjustment and try yet another new belt. 6 belts later and I'm still fighting it....

My problem is that it takes 3,000 miles for mine to begin to develope the chirp so this has been a year long process so far

.

Mine was perfectly fine with the stock setup on there, it's when I adapted the Kwik Performance AC compressor relocation kit that my problems started. So I know to concentrate in that area.

At least you believe you have found the culprit. Cross your fingers

**jiveass** · 09-06-2012, 03:20 PM

i got the same chirp. didnt have it until i put the air conditioner belt back on...now the pulley squeaks. take the belt off, and its gone.

**leon phelps** · 09-07-2012, 02:14 PM

no a/c here.

Is it possible that when I bottom out the power steering pulley, it is not deep enough to the rear of the car and that the pulley will rub the pump? I am confused here. I ordered a new pulley for the pump and will go from there (with a new idler).