Here's A Good One For Ya!! Several Months Ago, I Replaced The Serpentine Belt In My 93 Bronco (302 Auto). Shortly After That, Every Time It Rains Or Is Very Humid Outside, There Is A Very Annoying Squeal From That Area. At First I Thought That My Water Pump Was Going Out Or The Idler Pulley And/or Tensioner Pulley Were Going Bad. Well I Changed Out Both Pulleys Which Made No Difference. Heres The Best Part -- When I Was At The Auto Parts Store The Gut Behind The Counter Noticed That I Bought These Pulleys And Said "ya Got A Squeal Don't Ya". Of Course I Told Him The Story And He Said That He Replaced Everything On His Including The Air Pump And Alternator And You Will Never Get Rid Of The Noise. By Changing The Belt, He Said That I Upset The Apple Cart. I Find This Extremely Hard To Believe. Can Anyone Help!! Thanks, Alex

 

is it cold there, and does the squeel go away?

 

It's Not Really Cold Here (nw Arkansas) And Yes It Does Go Away. The First Sunny Day ( Or Day Without Rain) And The Noise Goes Away.

 

you might try going with a different belt manufacturer, mine doesnt squeek at all. so either somthing is getting ready to fail or the belt is poor quality

 

I Appreciate The Response. I Have Tried Two Different Belts, Gates Being One Of Them. I Thought That Buying An Expensive One Would Do The Trick But That Wasn't The Case. I Thought About The Water Pump Or Alternator Starting To Go Bad And Make The Noise But, Again, It Goes Back To The Parts Guy Grinning At Me Saying It Can't Be Fixed And The Fact That It Only Makes The Noise When It's Wet Outside. A Failing Part Would Make The Noise Intermittantly All The Time Right??

 

I have the exact same symptom. I think it's either a slight misalignment in one of the pulley, or the tensioner needs to have a stiffer spring.

 

Mine does the same thing, replace the belt problem goes away for a while then here comes the squeal again. Remedy I just replace the belt, good for about 6 months more. I have replaced the tensioner..made no difference. Checked all pulleys all were ok. You can quieten it down by spraying the belt down with silicone spray will stop it for about a week. I tried probably 4 different manufacturers of belts but it comes back so now I just replace the belt about every 5 or 6 months.

 

I just sprayed the belt with silicone lube, and to much of my surprise the squel has gone!!

Will see how long it stays that way. This means that's definitely not any of the bearings (i.e. alternator or tensioner) are the source, even though the squel appears to come from their general direction. Now I'm thinking this may be caused by a too smooth surface on some pulley (the belt will stick to it a bit) so if the squel comes back, I'll probably rough up the suspected surfaces a bit.

 

i have the same squeal in my '91, and it drives me nuts!! mostly because i got used to my old f150, and whenever there was a foreign noise, i thought it was the end of my truck. i just wish i could find a way to make the squeak go away

 

I'm in the same boat. The noises start and I start thinking that the bearings in one of the pulleys are going out. Then I remember that I can buy a $15 belt and the squeal will go away. It's very disturbing how old belts make noises that sound like bearings on their way out....

 

The one I used is "Rawn Silicone Lube 37008" from Fry's; $4.99 for a 10 oz can, but one can probably get an equivalent lube for less elsewhere. Probably much cheaper than a new belt every few months.

 

There is a thing called belt dressing, I even have a bottle of it in the garage. It is supposed to quite the belt down. A sqeaky belt is usually pretty common in humid places.Very rarley do we ever get alot of humidity here in Vegas but once in a blue moon when it goes over 80% my belt will sqeak at idle.

 

Belt dressings are, I believe, for V belts. I tried it once on my Bronco and it made the squel worse.

 

I had a 1990 Bronco and I used it on the serpentine belt and it stopped the squeal for about 3 weeks. The bottle I have is made by Pyrol and says that it is safe for all engine belts.

 

I tried using the "belt dressing" stuff on my Bronco and it made the squeal a lot worse. I have to clean it all off to get the squeal to go away.