I am struggling with a squeaky belt on the 1995 Cherokee. I had a top-quality Goodyear belt on there, and it started to shred. I thought it was just a bad belt, but once replaced, I found out that the waterpump was toast. I replaced that, but now the belt is squealing like crazy. I checked the one idler pulley and it is fine. I checked tension, and it is fine. All of the other pulleys rotate freely with no binding.
As for diagnosing, the noise is not there at startup, but as it warms up, it starts. Spraying water on the inside (ribbed) side of the belt makes it go away immediately. The interwebz say that means that its a pulley misalignment. The only The A/C works well, the power steering pump and water pumps are new, the alternator works well.
That seems to indicate the harmonic balancer. Its got 130,000 miles on it, so replacement seems like a good idea anyway, apparently, there is a rubber component to it and perhaps that is breaking down. Sound reasonable?
Most common cause I have run across is the pulley on the replacement power steering pump not being pressed on the proper distance.
Cousin_Eddie said:
Most common cause I have run across is the pulley on the replacement power steering pump not being pressed on the proper distance.
It weird because the pulley didn't clear the pump housing. I shimmed it first to move it away, then ground down the housing to make room. Neither seemed to work. But no squeal with the old pump makes me thing something is funky with the new. But what?
How long did you run it on the bad water pump? It might have gotten a bit of a stretch.
The most common problem, in general, is when the pivot bushing in the tensioner pulley starts to wear. It moves the belt a bit out of line, creating the noise, which is usually the sound of the ribs rubbing on the side of the grooves as they roll through.
Can you lay a straight edge across the face of two pulleys at a time?
ddavidv
PowerDork
1/15/19 6:46 a.m.
I chased a squeaky belt on my Lightning and replaced most everything and still have the problem. I was told by several guys that once a belt squeaks it needs replaced. My truck came with a 'spare' belt that was lightly used and I swapped them around. Still squeaks, of course but was quiet for a little while. Only thing left to try is a totally new belt.
Mine has a serpentine belt so it is reasonably easy to see if everything lines up properly. I've tried two different alternators, two air pumps, checked bearings in the power steering pump and water pump and replaced both idlers. The only thing I haven't done is install a NEW belt.
It has a new belt, I suppose I could try a DIFFERENT new belt.
My late coworker had the ingenious yet counterintuitive advice of spritzing the contact surfaces of the belt with a little WD40 while the engine is running. It actually works.
pinchvalve said:
It has a new belt, I suppose I could try a DIFFERENT new belt.
I thought you had done some other changes to the pulley alignment after changing to the current new belt.
My thinking is that once it starts making noise, the belt is glazed, and won't grip.
It'll be temporary, but you can always try some belt dressing.
