SOOT4BRAINS

I had a belt squeak a couple weeks ago so I put a new belt on and it went away. I also did the thermostat housing seal at the same time. It would seep just a little bit, and I thought maybe some antifreeze had gotten on the belt and glazed it. I scrubbed all the pulleys and checked all the bearings and no movement anywhere. Well now the squeak is back and getting worse. If I put a little water on it, it goes away. Something is making the belt glaze. Only thing I can see is that the tensioner moves just a bit. It would appear that the harmonic balancer is moving just a little bit and the tensioner takes up the little bit of slack. Bolts are all tight on the balancer, just moves enough to make the tensioner twitch. Is the pulley part of the balancer rubber mounted? Or is just the big part on the front and the pulley is part of the hard mounted part? What else would make the belt squeak like this? Has less than a year on the water pump and it turns freely and the tensioner pulley is new. I don't want to keep glazing $50 belts every 2 weeks.

jimbo486

is it the infamous squeak when you shut the engine off or is this happening while it's running?

i believe the pulley and balancer are one piece. when i had mine off to do the KDP, the only bolts i saw on it were the 4 that bolted it to the crank. didn't look too closely at it though. if your tensioner is new then that can be ruled out.... i'm out of ideas already lol

SOOT4BRAINS

It squeaks when its running. Mine has never squeaked at shutdown. Not sure why not. If it was just shutdown I wouldn't even care. Everything feels ok to me. One thing I did forget to mention is the first time I had the squeak there was a small buildup of rubber on the water pump pulley. There is not now. Yet anyway. I can also hear a vibration in the transmission at idle, I had attributed it to the fact my south bend dual disc is set up with little pieces of poly something or other instead of springs in the discs. It transmits a lot more vibrations through the clutch than before. Maybe its because my balancer is messed up.

jimbo486

well if it appears that the balancer isn't running true and your tensioner is new, then quite possibly the balancer is messed up just enough that it's tearing up your belt(s) and the "symptom" of that is the squeak?

SOOT4BRAINS

I guess the next step is a new balancer. Ever since I got the dual disc, I have planned on getting a fluid dampr, I guess it will just be sooner than later. A bad balancer can really mess with stuff.

jimbo486

aaron, this is out of the haynes manual for my dad's '06, but might be beneficial. i don't know if our dampers have the index marks or not, but worth a try....

Power Ram 250 C

My truck is the same way when it rains out or if it's damp out. I've switched from a Gatorback belt to a cheap one and it hasn't squeaked for a while now. Our 7140 IH tractor with the 8.3L Cummins squeaks all the time though and it's very annoying and on that we've tried everything with no luck.

SOOT4BRAINS

Thanks Jimbo! I will look tomorrow and see if mine has marks on it. The rubber on the front looks fine, but who knows. I say a couple chevy ones at the machine shop I worked at that were rotated more than 90 degrees and the rubber looked fine. I am using an old cheapy belt I had laying around for now, the Gates ones are too pricey to replace every 2 weeks. This old one doesn't squeak yet, but I don't give it long.......

Jim5870

I've seen tensioners squeak also, the internal spring squeaks as the tensioner
rocks back an forth. I removed the tensioner and dipped the spring end
into a container of oil, let the excess drip out then reinstall.
worked for me.