I did a seach on this subject but would like to know a little more. I bought a 2005 ram 5.9 cummins a month ago. The belt was squeaking. So took the old belt off. (It was a NAPA belt) Looked fairley new to me. Replaced it with a dayco. 2 weeks later it squeaks too. I tried some belt conditioner tonight and that made it worse. Is this a problem with these motors? Do i just have to live with the squeak? Some like the goodyear gatorback. Will this solve my problems? Thanks in advance.

 

live with the squeak, it drive the ford and chevy guys nuts.

they all almost to it when you shut it off. (if that's what your referring to)

 

Belt tensioner is faulty (weak spring). As DodgeRam mentioned, if it does it on shut down, there is a clutched pulley kit you can buy to replace the standard one on the alternator. When you shut the engine down, it back spins enough to cause belt chirp, and the new pulley eliminates that by letting it spin back without grabbing.

 

It cherps when you turn it off but i can live with that. The squealing at idle is what I'm talking about.

 

Remove the belt again and spin all the pulleys, including the tensioner. May have to remove the fan and shroud to get better access to the front of the engine.

 

You can also remove the belt and take a Scotch Bright pad to clean the pulleys. I have seen them get some type of build up that I just call "Glazing" and that can cause the belt to squeal too. It is mostly on the smooth pulleys but can be the grooved as well.

 

Take a close look at the old belt. If it appears one part is worn more than another (like the outside edge), then you may have a pulley misaligned.

 

That and he may have a bearing going out on one of his accessories (alt, a/c, idler, fan hub).

 

take the belt back off and make sure everything is spinning fine, if it is, then i would take a close look at the tensioner.

i had to change the one on our plow truck for that, it was Dodge gas, same principal though.

be sure your AC clutch is not stuck on, they draw a lot of power off the belt.

 

Thanks for the replys. I'll let you know what i find out...

 

When mine did that it turned out to be a water pump bearing going out.

 

That belt conditioner can be some bad stuff BUT what I found is that the first time you spray it on it makes the belt squeal worse than before. You have to keep applying it until the squeak goes away.
There have been some good suggestions here but if everything else checks out fine then I have a simple solution for you that will work for a little while and you will have to do it again and again but it works immediately. With the engine off, take a dab of Dielectric grease and put it on your finger tip and find a spot on the ribbed side of the belt and smear it on. Do NOT do this on the flat side of the belt. Your squeal should disappear immediately and should stay gone for a couple weeks until it wears away.
I don't know why it works but it does and it is amazing how quickly it works...

 

Belt conditioner wasn't meant for serpentine belts though.

 

i was thinking the same thing.

there has to be something wrong like the belt loose or something dragging.

 

Lots of good info, My belt has been doing the same thing...thanks fellas