When I start my engine up while its cool, it makes a loud squeal while its running, like it sounds like it may be something involving the belt, when it warms up, the sound goes away, but until then its just plain out annoying. Does anybody have any ideas of how I can get this noise to stop, its a really aggravating thing.

 

could have a bad bearing in one of the pulleys

 

how many miles on the belts

 

Well IMHO it could be any number of things, like a worn belt, bad bearing in one of the belt driven accessories, bad idler pulley bearing or, bad belt tensioner bearing or weak tensioner spring.

If the belt is worn or has 30K or more miles, it's time for replacement.

You could try a broom handel as a stethoscope, one end on each belt driven item's non moving part, the other to your ear & listen to each items bearing noise.

Gotta be careful going this though, don't wanna get wound up in the belt, or have it eat that broom handel.

Or you could remove the belt & rotate each pulley, as you "feel" for any roughness or tightness, or excessive "play" or looseness, in any of the belt driven pully's, before things warm up.

 

the belt is fairly new, I have had it on for about 10k, and its not looking worn yet, but its just like a squeal/whistle kind of sound, i'm not sure how exactly to describe it, but I will check to see the pulleys and all that, thanks, any other suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks for all the help already.

 

Mine does the same thing now and then. However, I replaced the belt, idler and tensioner pulley about 3000 miles ago. Before, it was real bad and squealed all the time. Again, now mine just does it now and then. Seems like it does it more when the humidity is up, like after a rain.

If it does look like it is something with the belt (as opposed to a bearing), make sure the belt is clean, and the pullies are clean also.
I found a lot of info on here regarding the belt system. Try a search if you haven't already.


Correct me if I am wrong, but I think I have read on other posts, that after you have to mess with the belt system once, you're gonna have it squeal once in awhile?

 

I replaced the belt back in january when i replaced my water pump, once i had done that it didn't start the noise until about may or so, and now it is off and on, it did it yesterday and its been dry for about a week. but once it got up to temperature, it quit.

 

Classic bad/loose belt sound. After you start it it squeals (slips) as the alternator recharges the battery - once that load is gone, it doesn't slip any more. Does it squeal when you put ont he headlights? Jump start someone else?

 

It only does it when i start it up, when i rev the engine it stays the constant volume, the volume of the squeal doesn't get any worse, or any better, but i live on the back of a college campus so i don't really run a lot of high rpms bc the speed limit is so low, so that noise does get annoying, since it started, the performance has stayed the same, no problems when another load is placed on it, and no noise like that after it runs a minute, the belt has the automatic tensioner on it, so unless thats bad, i don't believe that it would be the belt tension.

 

it seems to be louder when it is wet out now, but again once it heats up, its perfect, other than the knock/click i have when i hop on the gas, but i know what that is and until i get the money, that'll be aight, just the whistle like squeal is annoying

 

Shure sounds like the belt.

I know you said you just replaced the belt, so did the noise begin soon afterward????

Did you replace it with a MotorCraft belt or some other after market vendor????

Over the years I've had two noisey belts, one on my Taurus sounded like a cricket, belt looked ok, I even cleaned it & the pulleys to no avail, replacing it fixed the problem. It now resides in the trunk as a spare.

The other noisey one, on my Zypher I fixed with some Tide detergent & distilled water in a spray bottle.

Just soaked the belts running side down real good, as I let the engine idle after warm up. This way it cleaned the belts nunning & pulleys mating surfaces simultaneously.

I let it run at idle until it died well. Noise didn't come back.

Seeing as how money is a big factor here, try the latter, as it's more cost effective, IF IT WORKS, RIGHT!!!!

Other wise if you find all the pulley's & bearings on the belts route are ok, you'll just have to put up with it, or replace the belt.

If the noise wasn't present before, but began after the belt was replaced, maybe the place you bought it from will replace it, as most belts have at least a one year warranty.

If they won't replace the belt & your nerves are really frayed & money is really tight, as it can sometimes get to be when your a student, try your local salvage yards for a low mileage wreck.
Bet you could find a good belt for less than $5.

I recently replaced the belt on my 99 4.0L with a Dayton Poly Cog. It's even quieter than the OEM one, so far so good.

I wouldn't recommend using a belt dressing, although I've read some on this forum have had limited success doing so. It just maskes a problem that should be fixed. IMHO

Let us know what you find.

 

Good info there PawPaw - the one use of belt dressing that I might suggest is to verify that the problem is with the belt. If a shot of belt dressing changes the squeal at all, then you got a pretty good idea that you're on the right track suspecting the belt...

 

What year and what engine do you have? There is a tsb for belt squeal on certain year 4.0L engines for replacement of the waterpump pulley for a belt squeal.

 

i'm running a poly cog on it right now, it started oh say maybe 3-4 months after replacing the water pump and belt, i'll try some of the things ya'll gave me here, as soon as this hurricane gets by us, not gonna mess with it in the wind and rain, i appreciate all the help, i'll let u know how it turns out.