Belt Squeeking Issue
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Elder User
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From: Houston
Belt Squeeking Issue
Hey guys, I am new to the forum so please bear with me here. I have a 99' Ranger Sport 2x with a 3.0, automatic, and AC. I have a 3" Body lift with 31" tall tires. The truck is re-geared down to 4.10's with a locker. For the past couple of years I have had a belt sqeek issue off and on. When I replace the belt the squeek goes away for a few months, but will eventually return. At $40 a belt this gets old at twice a year. My truck has only 65,000 miles on it. I recently replaced the water pump, and in the process took a good look/inspection of the pully's and tension pully. Everything appeared to be ok and in good shape. Last night I replced the belt again because the squeek had returned, of course with a new belt on, no noise. I did notice that the old bely had some very small metal shavings imbebed in the v's of the belt. Has anyone had this problem before? Any idea's or suggestions would be greatly appreciated -
Waves
Waves
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It may not be the exact problem you had Waves but my 98 3.0 was eating serpentines until the geniuses at the shop checked the tensioner and found it was bad and replaced it. That, and the rippffs at the stealership shop, finally made me see the light. I do the work on my truck now.
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Elder User
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From: Houston
I have considered the tensioner as the culprit, and am not opposed to replacing it. Is there a way to check it? My belts I am replacing are not bad, they just start making lots of noise when idling. Was yours doing the same thing or was it ruining the belt in the proccess?
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Joined: Feb 2004
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From: St. Louis region
Sounds like the tensioner is making the belt to tight. The metal shavings could possibly be from a worn bearing from the belt being too tight. I'm not sure though, just an idea. The shavings might be normal for all I know.
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Before I forget my manners again...welcome to FTE Waves. You'll find this to be an awesome place for advice and help when it comes to working on your Ford truck. I'm not sure if there's a way to test the tensioner or not. One of the more senior(experienced) folks might be able to tell you. Mine was pretty much just being noisy. One beltwas ruined but I can't say if it was the tensioner or if it's because I left it on there a loooooong time before I changed it. That really hit me in the wallet. I'm not really sure on the shavings since I never got in there and played with it myself. My advice, which is worth far less than 2cents 
, would be to change the tensioner out or see if you can adjust it. Best bet is to listen to folks like Lone Ranger and the other senior users. If you can, wait a day or so for some of them to chime in. As I said, I can only speak for what happened to me.
, would be to change the tensioner out or see if you can adjust it. Best bet is to listen to folks like Lone Ranger and the other senior users. If you can, wait a day or so for some of them to chime in. As I said, I can only speak for what happened to me.
Last edited by mymechanic'sanidiot; Mar 3, 2004 at 01:10 PM.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 2003
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From: Connecticut
Welcome to FTE.
A mis-aligned belt tensioner or pulley is often responsible for repeated belt noises and/or failures.
Also, FWIW, I had an occasional squeaky accessory belt on my Taurus SHO and tried a few tricks to get rid of the noise with no luck. Well, I had to remove both accessory belts and their associated pullies when I went to replace the timing belt and crank sensor and seal. So while I had the pullies off the motor, I cleaned them very good with brake parts cleaner and then took a piece of emery cloth and completely "resurfaced" the area on each of them where the belt rides, including the inner part of the grooves. The emery cloth worked great getting the remaining rust/crud off of the pullies and left a nice shiny but somewhat course finish, perfect for a belt to ride against.
I buttoned up the front end of the motor and got the car back on the road I have not heard one peep out of the belts since.
A mis-aligned belt tensioner or pulley is often responsible for repeated belt noises and/or failures.
Also, FWIW, I had an occasional squeaky accessory belt on my Taurus SHO and tried a few tricks to get rid of the noise with no luck. Well, I had to remove both accessory belts and their associated pullies when I went to replace the timing belt and crank sensor and seal. So while I had the pullies off the motor, I cleaned them very good with brake parts cleaner and then took a piece of emery cloth and completely "resurfaced" the area on each of them where the belt rides, including the inner part of the grooves. The emery cloth worked great getting the remaining rust/crud off of the pullies and left a nice shiny but somewhat course finish, perfect for a belt to ride against.
I buttoned up the front end of the motor and got the car back on the road I have not heard one peep out of the belts since.
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From: Houston
Thanx for the info, were your pulleys obviosly miss-alighned? I have given this a vissual check a couple of times and there does not appear to be a miss-alignment, also the belt does not seem to be too tight or too loose. Maybe going over the pulleys with an emory cloth might help, but this has really stumped me because I have tried/looked at several angles. While doing one of the several belt replcements (I think I am at 4 or 5 now), and while replacing the water pump two weeks ago I really looked at all of the pulleys, checked for any movement indicating they were worn and needing replacement and everything seemed to be fine. This has really stumped me. If nothing else seems wrong and it starts to squeek again I was considering replacing the tension pulley, the belts have started squeeking after 4 to 6 moths, some a little longer. It just does not appear to be any of the obvious or normal causes for this. Especially considering the truck only has 65k miles.
Waves
Waves
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Mine was fixed(after several appointments and belt changes), by replacing the water pump pulley. It seems my belt was moving around causing the squeaking and the new pulley has a lip to prevent this.
I'd ask your Ford service rep about it.
I'd ask your Ford service rep about it.