Water Pump and/or A/C Belt squeals

[Jeeper1949]

Greetings,

Our 2004 Highlander V6 has two flat belts. One for the Power Steering ans one for the A/C and alternator. One of them began to squeal when to car was started. Belt dressing lasted for about six months and then the squeal was back. Last week, I replaced both belts. For the first 2 days there was no squeal, however, now it is back. The squeal only happens when the car is cold in the morning. If the car is started with the A/C off, I still get a squeal so I believe it is the power steering belt.

Is there some special way to further tighten the power steering belt? I got it as tight as I could by prying the unit up using the engine block as a purchase. There has to be a better way.

How tight should these belts be? Should I tighten the A/C belt as well?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[shorod]

I'm not very familiar with the Highlander, so I apologize if this is common knowledge, but doesn't the 2004 use self tensioners for the belts? In which case there would be no way to tighten the belts short of replacing the tensioner?

I've hear of issues where new belts squealed after a short time and folks determining that there was a build up of rubber and other crud in the grooves of the pulleys. They would use a wirebrush or pick to clean out the pulley grooves and the squeal would go away.

You'd also want to check for belt alignment and, of course, self tensioner/belt tension.

-Rod

[shorod]

Ahhh, it appears the 2.4L engine uses a self tensioner, the V6 engines have a threaded tension adjustment. You could try applying something like brake cleaner or silicon spray to one belt at a time to identify which belt is chirping/squealing.

-Rod

[brcidd]

Squealing right after engine start is a sure sign of the alternator torque increase- to recharge the battery....that is the belt I'd study....

[Brian R.]

As shorod said, a build-up of belt material in the inside of the pulley is a common problem when a belt squeals after being properly adjusted.

You said that you pried on the power steering pump. The belts are not tightened by prying, they are tightened by loosening the pivot bolt and tightening or loosening the adjustment bolt, then tightening the pivot bolt to lock it in place. Prying will not tighten the belts.

[Jeeper1949]

Originally Posted by Brian R.

As shorod said, a build-up of belt material in the inside of the pulley is a common problem when a belt squeals after being properly adjusted.

You said that you pried on the power steering pump. The belts are not tightened by prying, they are tightened by loosening the pivot bolt and tightening or loosening the adjustment bolt, then tightening the pivot bolt to lock it in place. Prying will not tighten the belts.

Greetings,

I guess I didn't describe what I did in full detail. To change the power steering belt, I loostened the slider bracket holding bolt and then loostened the bolt going through the slider bracket. At that point, the power steering pump could be rotated so the old belt came off and the new belt put on. At this point the belt is quite loose and I could not see any tensioner or way to tighten the belt, so I used a pry bar levered off the engine block to apply pressure to move the power steering pump. I am looking for help on how to do this better. One GM suburban I owned had an ear cast into the pump body that you could insert a ratchet drive handle and thus tighten the belt and at the same time tighten the bold going through the slider bracket.

My error for not going into better details.

[Brian R.]

It sounds like you did the correct procedure for tightening the belt. You have to loosen both bolts, one on top and one inside the belt loop. You pry on the pump and first tighten the bolt inside the belt loop. The pivot bolt on top is tightened last. If you can't get good tension that way, perhaps you have the wrong length belt. If it's tight and still squeals, then the inside of the pulley may be full of belt crap and needs to be cleaned.

[Jeeper1949]

Thanks to all! I cleaned the pulleys and retightened the A/C, Alternator belt and the squeal is gone.