Ok so i just replaced the water pump today, fired it back up and noticed a small squeak in the belt at idle. Hold at 1500rpm and its constant and a bit louder. So thinking it was a bit of coolant on the crank pulley. So while it was running I sprayed simple green on the pulleys coating them good then rinsed with water. It went away for a few min then got progressively worse. Now at idle is sounds like a squealing pig.
Im stumped i honestly cannot figure it out. When the belt was off i checked all the pulleys and they all felt good except the grooved one on the left side of the tensioner. It had a very very small bit of play but spun good and free as did all them. Could that be the culprit ? The belt is correctly aligned in all the grooves aswell. THe belt was replaced several probably 4 years ago. It did feel real stiff when i had it out today.

So heres another potential problem, my wp wasn't leaking or weeping, its like the seal exploded, I drove probably 4 or 5 mi with coolant spraying everywhere. Could the coolant getting on the belt and running it that long fried the belt. Reason i say is it was squealing really bad when the seal went out, thats what sparked me to pull over only to find coolant leaking more like pouring out of the pump.

Any way i need to get this fixed and anything helps guys, Thanks Y'all

 

squirt some wd40 on each pulley one at a time until you find one that changes the noise when you squirt it. try to squirt it on the bearing not the belt.

 

Sounds good i will test it out in the morning
Any more ideas anyone,

 

Is it a Napa belt? If so throw it out and buy a better brand. I've had too many Napa belts start squealing early in life to ever buy another one.
If you WD40 a bearing you will wash the grease out. Don't do it! I killed my belt tensioner pullys doing that.
Rub a candle on the belt one side at a time. If it stops the squeal, change the belt. If not remove the belt and spin each pulley by hand and feel for wobble.
I'm betting it's the belt.

 

I might be wrong but, that would be if a pulley bering is bad and should quiet it up for a sec, right ? well i sprayed belt dressing directly on the grove of the ps pulley and it shut it up for a min, but it started back again. So idk if its a bering or the belt. Because spraying the belt with belt dressing and also with simple green and washed with water shut it up for a sec. But will also try spraying the pulleys like you directed tomm.

 

Frank, thats what I'm leaning toward. Idk when or where i purchased the belt, like i said i think it was like 4 or 5 years ago when i did the ps pump.
Douring the install today i didn't move or touch any pulleys to cause them to be out of whack and cause the squealing. THe only pulley i touched was the wp pulley which is flat and has room on both sides, so no binding of the belt there.

Like i did mention the grooved pulley on the tensioner (one is grooved on the left and one flat on the right ) had a small small amount of play or movement in it. So for pulleys they all seem to be in good shape. except for that one.

Im leaning toward the belt though. Is it possible that the belt could be shot due to its age " idk what the life on a belt SHOULD be " and it being sprayed heavily with coolant for 15min while driving highway speeds.

Before i installed the belt i washed it good with dawn dish soap to rid the coolant.

" I also will not spray the pulleys due to washing the greece out like you directed "

So whats a good place to get a belt " what brand and from where" same with the tensioner assay. Truck has 230k and its the stock one. Idk what the life is on them I'm thinking i should probably do it.

 

My last Napa belt started squealing when I washed my engine with simple green. I tried belt dressing (didn't work but for a second) then I tried WD40 on the bearings and killed three...after replacing the pulleys the squeal was still there.
I put another new Napa belt on and it was quiet for a month or two...then the squeal came back.
I then bought the best Gates belt that Advance Auto had and all has been quiet for over a year now.

 

Gates you say ummmmm i got a Advance here and sounds like gates is what i will try tomm i guess. Its the only thing i can think of.

What about tensioner pulley assembles?

 

You can get the three pulleys with bearings for $10-$20 a piece. it's been a while since I bought them. But my money is on your belt
Others have had success with Goodyear gatorback belts also.
If they offer you two different ones, get the better one.

 

First, I would determine if it is the belt, or a pulley. Mine has a squeak, but the squeak coincides in time with the white writing on the belt; you know, it's "squeak, squeak, squeak", rather than a continuous squeal.

I would think that a pulley (or accessory) going bad would have a more continuous squeal, or at least a higher frequency of occurrence (i.e. for every revolution of that particular accessory). A lower frequency of occurrence (i.e. every belt revolution) would mean something with the belt, which would be less serious. Mine is the latter.

If the lettering on your belt is worn off, maybe you could take some white paint or some whiteout or something and put a mark on the belt that you could watch. If you hear a squeak every time the belt passes a certain point, then you know that it is the belt, and not a pulley or accessory.

P.S. mine comes and goes; it will squeak a few times coinciding with the belt travel, then fade out for a little bit, then fade back in. I'll be tracking this down tomorrow. I'll report back if I find anything interesting.

 

I have seen a buddy spray armoral on his belt. first time for everything.

not sure what it does

 

Well I had squeak that drove me nuts!! Replaced the belt still squeaked pulleys seemed fine. I got so pi**ed I then replaced upper pulley and tensioner assy with Gates. And it pleased me to see that Gates was made in the USA. Long story short I replaced All pulleys, belt and tensioner and now I can drive down the road and not hear the noise of the belt or pulleys.

So I know that doesn't sound like much help but if you replace everything I am sure your squeak will go away... it worked for me. And I wish I would have done it in the first place and just been done with it instead of wasting my time with one part at a time.

 

Put some powdered cleanser, like comet, on it. That usually shuts them up for quite awhile.

 

Generally if a little water changes the noise, it's the belt. 4 or 5 years old? Put a new belt on it.
My next belt will be Motorcraft. They last for years! I am on my second Dayco thing, from Advance. Had a fairly new one on it when I got truck year and a half ago, changed it due to noise, then two months later started to come apart. They replaced it, but.
Could have messed up more than the belt. And yes it was installed correctly.

 

The belt I got from napa is a Gates. No squeal here.