Is it? Better check up on myself

 

I thought the same thing when i first heard the noise but then i reailed the PS pump is hooked up to the vacuum pump and the vacuum pump is gear driven.


Valv, thanks for the info, I'll try a cheap belt. I actually think I have an extra in the garage some where.

 

Ok, truck seems to be fixed now. Went to the parts store this morning with the belt squealing the whole time. Got a new belt and came home to put it on. I took the tensioner off, sanded the pulley a little with some emery cloth to scuff it up some, scuffed the pulley on the new water pump a little, and cleaned all the pulleys off with brake clean before installing the new belt. Did this just to make sure there wasn't any oil, grease, or old coolant on them. Put the new belt on and fired it up. No squealing now, I let it run at idle for 10 min, then i used the quad to bump the idle up to 1200 rpm for another 15 min to get it good and warm in the garage. Still no noise.

 

Glad ya got it fixed Matt.

 

By way of info - crap from the plastic puke bottle splattering the belt and/or pulleys will cause this noise. Doesn't have to be obvious - just a thin film will do it. Noise will be more pronounced when the belt is cold and more inflexible - warming up will reduce it.

 

I thought about that but I forgot I relocated mine a couple yrs ago so its not up by the engine anymore.

 

A friend of mine was having a bad belt squeal with a new Gates belt on his Ford Windstar. He put on a Gatorback and the noise went away, never came back.