I have a '95 f250 with a 5.8 liter gas engine, it has always run well and never given too many problems, I haven't put a ton of miles on it so it has been kind to me in repair bills. that said, I had taken it to a service garage last december because the temp gauge was acting up... they put on a new thermostat, temp problem corrected no worries there.

The garage also put on a new serpentine belt (Dayco) and idler pulley which is where my trouble began. now it makes this very annoying noise, that sounds like a belt noise, it is an intermittent "screeching" sound like a belt makes when it's old and loose, but I can't understand why a brand new belt would make this noise, unless it's not tight enough? I have driven the truck a bunch and at times it seems to go away, the noise is worse when there's no load on the engine and it is idling at lower rpms, if you are going up a hill it quiets down or goes away but as soon as you coast it starts again.

I took the truck back to the garage to complain about the noise and they sprayed belt dressing on it, of course that got me to go away and then the noise returned after a couple of miles as the dressing dried off. so I am looking for any suggestions anyone can give as to correcting the problem. Is there a way to adjust tension on the belt with the spring loaded tensioner underneath the idler pulley? this is not a problem that keeps me from getting from AtoB, but I'd sure like the noise to be gone & I can't pull over every five miles to put on new belt dressing, that's just a temporary fix. any ideas? experienced advice is much appreciated.

 

dayco belts suck.

get goodyear gatorback belt.

find a new garage that knows this.

also, belt dressing is only a bandaid.

 

Maybe the idler pulley did not get tight enough. No matter the case your mechanic shop should fix the problem. or refund at least the labor for making it worse.

 

You have coolant on the belt and pullies. That will squeek like crazy till it wears off or you replace the belt AND CLEAN off the pullies.

Right now on my 89 F250 I got coolant on the belt and that squeek is driving my wife crazy! LOL Tommaro I am going to get some Dawn dish soap and squirt it on the belt and wash it off with engine running. Usually that will rid the noise.

 

For future reference..........Go to a different garage next time, any shop that sprays belt dressing on a belt to "fix" it is not a quality operation.
Clean the pulleys, go Goodyear or Motorcraft on the new belt.........Dayco= chinese junk.

 

that was kinda exactly what i said. ;-)

 

when i thought my belts were going out it happened to be a bering in the water pump and needed the whole thing replaced, try watching ur temp gauge and if it jumps up and down once in a while it could be that.

___________________________
1997 Ford F-250 Heavy Duty XTREME conversion 2X4 7.5L V-8