Squeaking Belt

[flashlight]

How do you make a belt stop sqeaking?

[91Caprice9c1]

tightening it, or replacing it if it is worse for wear and then making sure it's tight - but not too tight, just tight enough and definitely not loose, because loose belts squeek and so do old belts. You could spray some belt dressing garbage on there, or rub some bar soap on the belt and that usually will help too. pick your poison buddy!

[RickMN]

Belt dressing is death to a belt. It's a temporary fix that ultimately destroys the belt. It works by making things sticky. That solves the squeak. Then it starts picking up dirt and grit. That will grind away at the belt AND the pulleys, making the problem much worse in the end. If tightening the old belt or replacing the belt doesn't stop the squeak, then you've either got a bad pulley, a bad bearing in an idler roller, or a pulley that's out of alignment.

[carpenter_jai]

.. and belt dressing is only a band-aid, requiring to actually fix your problem later. like everyone else will tell you, tighten your belt. Loosen off your alternator, (3 bolts) push it back so that the tension on the belt is enough that you can barely flip it over. Tighten the alternator well. Myself, I also replaced the two bottom bolts that hold the alternator with one long bolt going through both mounts. It's about 6 inches long and it keeps even tension without slipping.

Jai

[flashlight]

Bar soap doesn't do anything to help stop the squeak. It does the same thing that belt dressing does, it picks up dirt and grime and ultimately wears the belt out. I've found that getting a new belt and tightening it is the best answer. Do make sure that you use something for leverage in order to make the belt tight or it will still squeak.