My fan belt was squealing a little, although not very often, and I saw a product called belt dressing so I thought I would buy it and spray it on my fan belt and now it sounds like there is a clacking or grindy sound going on with my pulleys in my engine - please help me know what the heck is going on?!!

Thanks

 

Does it sound like metal on metal or is the belt sticky and making a hard sticky rubber slipping noise (if that makes any sense)? I cant imagine how the spray would affect any metal parts. Did you try adjusting the alternator or power steering pump (which ever belt you sprayed)?

 

It sounds like metal - the truck does not have power steering and I haven't made any adjustments via the alternator - the only thing I can say is that it sounds as if the pulleys are loose but I checked them and they don't seem to be. Do you think I should adjust the belt to be tighter by loosening up where it attaches to the alternator? I'm not very experienced with mechanics.

Thanks

 

Spray on products don't do much and could be causing your belt to make a clacking noise, the best thing is to tighten the belt and if you think you have a mechanical problem take the belt off and turn the pully(s) by hand to see if they turn smooth.

 

Or, in my own experience, I just replaced the belt with a new one and voila! No noise. Just my own experience, I am not an expert, though I play one on this website! :-)
Dak

 

Belt dressing is a waste of money. It actually makes things worse. The purpose of a belt is to use friction on the pulleys to turn. Belt dressing just makes things greasy and actually makes you lose friction.

If a belt is squealing, the pulleys are spinning faster than the belt. That means the belt is slipping. The squealing noise comes from the pulleys shearing against the belt. It's simple physics. If this is the case, the belt is worn too lose and needs replaced, the belt needs to be tightened, or the pulleys have glazed.

 

what about when the truck is cold it squeaks but only if I give it gas, if i turn the truck on and let it run and warm up it doesnt. If I let the truck warm up a bit but not normal operating temp, "cold" it squeaks. Would this be on of the three things you suggested or something else?

 

Everything I said is still true, it's just that the problem tends to be worse when cold. When the truck warms up, the pulleys are hot and expand, which makes the belt slightly tighter, and the expansion also allows for more friction between the belt and the pulley.

 

ok that is what I was thinking but just wanted to make sure I didnt need to check something else, thanks

 

My exGF's '86 Tbird with a serpentine belt was squeaking, -not squealing-.

It was loud enough to get on your nerves tho. :/
It wasn't any of the bearings.
Anyway... sprayed belt dressing on it and it made it worse! :/
Sprayed silicone on it and it quieted it right down but only lasted a week or so.

Got on FTE and was told an elaborate cleaning procedure to fix the problem. LOL :)

So I fiNgured, let the old-belt do some cleaning before I take it off by getting
it sloppy wet with carburetor cleaner on both sides of the belt. Fixed it! :)

Never even had to install the new belt that was still in the trunk when the plastic
intake manifold decided to "Ford us" about a year(?) later.

"Belt Dressing" huh?
Not sure what that stuff is even good for at this point. :/

------------------------

Never hurts to loosen the belts enough to turn everything by hand and
listen and feel for any noises or roughness before making the belts tighter
or spraying stuff on them and all that "band-aid" like stuff.

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/idler.jpg
Didn't bother to cut the shaft off that newest "water pump" bearing.
It's its third "water pump" bearing in that idler pulley but the second one
would prob'ly still be in there if I hadn't hammer mechanic-ed it! LOL :)

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/bypass.jpg
That idler uses a 6203 bearing and that is that pulley's third bearing too.

The original alternator is still in my pickup just needed a 6203 bearing and
the brushes changed once so far.

"Dig in there" and figure out what's wrong.
Figure out a way to fix it yourself cheap! ;)

Works for me. :)

Alvin in AZ