bad belt slip/squeel problem.

[Talley]

hi guys, new around here.

long story short. alt/water belt burned off and replaced it with a gator.

the problem is this. with hardly any belt tension there is no squeel with the motor running. with the belt tension tight with 1/4" play at idle there is loud loud squeel and with throttle the belt literally smokes.

alt spins freely by hand and the water pump spins freely by hand.

alt or water pump?

alternator charges just fine. no burned wires etc.

I'm thinking bad water pump but would like someone to confirm this.

Thanks

[Crvett69]

tighten belt more, have to be fairly tight on these engines or they will squeel. if you tighten it and still have problem buy another brand belt, had a few problems with certain types of belts on these cars

[Talley]

i can tighten the belt beyond belief. have it super tight and all that happens is at idle makes a very loud squeel sound. with any throttle the belt actually smokes and i can see rubber fly off the belt.

i don't think this is a belt issue. alternator seems to spin freely as the water pump but the water pump does seem to spin freely only to a certain extent.

I think i will replace the water pump today and see if that solves anything.

Talley

[Mhu]

The pulleys (and hence the belt) may be out of alignment. Check to make sure that all the pulleys are running on the same plane. Also, replace the belt. if it's been "smoked" it's glazed enough so that it'll never run without squeeling.

[graywebdesign]

I have a similar problem with my 94 Metro. In my case, my front crankshaft seal is leaking oil and this oil is getting on the alt/water pump belt. No matter how tight I make the belt, it still squeels. Even the SLIGHTEST amount of oil on your belt will cause the same problem. Since I dont want to replace the crankshaft seal, I am going to try using a spray can of "belt dressing" that you can buy at any automotve store to see if it helps.

[Staypuff]

what can you spray on the belt/pulleys that would clean them up of oil and whatnot. if it going to make it squeak for another min but still get it clean(like water would do in some cases) thats fine. suggestions