Squeaking/chirping fan belt
02-28-2005, 05:57 PM
#1
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Squeaking/chirping fan belt
Anyone know of a lubricant that would eliminate the sqeaking belt short of replacing it? Tried WD40, Prestone Fan lubricant, and Silicon Lubricant. All of the stuff I have tried will stop the chirping when first applied for the lower rpm. As the car warms up the higher rpm chirp will slowly go away. This works until the next time I drive the car. I drive the car on weekends only.
02-28-2005, 06:03 PM
#3
Team Owner
Originally Posted by Setpoint
Anyone know of a lubricant that would eliminate the sqeaking belt short of replacing it? Tried WD40, Prestone Fan lubricant, and Silicon Lubricant. All of the stuff I have tried will stop the chirping when first applied for the lower rpm. As the car warms up the higher rpm chirp will slowly go away. This works until the next time I drive the car. I drive the car on weekends only.
)
02-28-2005, 06:26 PM
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I spent tons of cash going thu this one. Buy GOODYEAR GATORBACK belts. The Gm ones just don't cut it for some cars. You know you need belts when a lubricant will make the sound go away for a while. Gm never could find the problem on mine, but when i spent 29.99 at autozone it disappeared. 10,000 miles and not squeaking at all!! 
02-28-2005, 08:35 PM
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St. Jude Donor '03-'04
You have two belt systems on your car. One is the drive belt system, the other is the air conditioner belt system.
The drive belt system consists of the serpentine belt,the power steering pump, alternator/gen, water pump, harmonic balancer, idler pulley,belt auto tensioner pulley.
The AC belt system consists of the compressor, harmonic balancer,idler pulley, belt auto tensioner pulley.
First thing you need to do is isolate which system is squeaking. this can be done by releasing tension on the drive belt tensioner and removing the serp belt. This is the outboard belt of the two belt systems..if the squeak goes away, then it is the belt or a component of the drive system.
If the squeak is still there, then it is a component of the ac belt system.
to verify this release the belt tension from the tensioner and remove the belt. if the squeak goes away, then it is a component of the ac belt system..
A common problem is the belt tensioner on either system.. but verifying which system is at fault is the proper procedure.
You could replace both belts, but you may still have the squeak. So if you want to find the culprit, isolate the system, then spray the belt of the offending system and see if the squeak goes away. Try to stay away from the idler and tensioner while spaying..
I find that belt dressing may be good to identify a belt problem, but it is a temporary fix at best..
The real problem has been the tensioner and the idler.. both of these components have a sealed bearing which has been know to dry up or redirect the grease away from the bearing, thus causing the squeak.
If you find that a belt change does not correct the problem, then a change of both the idler and tensioner pulley is in order. If you just change the idler or the tensioner alone, it will cause the other component to go bad in a month or so. This has been the case with many members..There was a change made to the dusts seals to help correct this problem in newer C5's.
Lots of tensioner and idler pulleys have been identified as a problem.. and it can effect either system. One is not more prevalent than the other. So find out which system is squeaking first, in the drive belt system, it could also be the bearing of the alternator, power steering pump, or water pump too, but these are less probable.
I hope this makes things alittle clearer
ET
The drive belt system consists of the serpentine belt,the power steering pump, alternator/gen, water pump, harmonic balancer, idler pulley,belt auto tensioner pulley.
The AC belt system consists of the compressor, harmonic balancer,idler pulley, belt auto tensioner pulley.
First thing you need to do is isolate which system is squeaking. this can be done by releasing tension on the drive belt tensioner and removing the serp belt. This is the outboard belt of the two belt systems..if the squeak goes away, then it is the belt or a component of the drive system.
If the squeak is still there, then it is a component of the ac belt system.
to verify this release the belt tension from the tensioner and remove the belt. if the squeak goes away, then it is a component of the ac belt system..
A common problem is the belt tensioner on either system.. but verifying which system is at fault is the proper procedure.
You could replace both belts, but you may still have the squeak. So if you want to find the culprit, isolate the system, then spray the belt of the offending system and see if the squeak goes away. Try to stay away from the idler and tensioner while spaying..
I find that belt dressing may be good to identify a belt problem, but it is a temporary fix at best..
The real problem has been the tensioner and the idler.. both of these components have a sealed bearing which has been know to dry up or redirect the grease away from the bearing, thus causing the squeak.
If you find that a belt change does not correct the problem, then a change of both the idler and tensioner pulley is in order. If you just change the idler or the tensioner alone, it will cause the other component to go bad in a month or so. This has been the case with many members..There was a change made to the dusts seals to help correct this problem in newer C5's.
Lots of tensioner and idler pulleys have been identified as a problem.. and it can effect either system. One is not more prevalent than the other. So find out which system is squeaking first, in the drive belt system, it could also be the bearing of the alternator, power steering pump, or water pump too, but these are less probable.
I hope this makes things alittle clearer
ET
02-28-2005, 08:54 PM
#8
Melting Slicks
FWIW I have been using Duralube spray on mine for years. But the method is to not spray the belt while running like I thought would be better. I spray directly on the pully when engine off (let it run around it), then start. Will work for about a year it seems.
03-01-2005, 10:44 AM
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I really appreciate all of the information regarding this squeaking belt drive annoyance. It is really nice to part of this forum. I will try a few of the suggestion and if they don't work, then I'll replace the belt.
03-01-2005, 11:27 AM
#10
Team Owner
Originally Posted by Evil-Twin
The real problem has been the tensioner and the idler.. both of these components have a sealed bearing which has been know to dry up or redirect the grease away from the bearing, thus causing the squeak.
If you find that a belt change does not correct the problem, then a change of both the idler and tensioner pulley is in order. If you just change the idler or the tensioner alone, it will cause the other component to go bad in a month or so. This has been the case with many members..
If you find that a belt change does not correct the problem, then a change of both the idler and tensioner pulley is in order. If you just change the idler or the tensioner alone, it will cause the other component to go bad in a month or so. This has been the case with many members..
That's right where I'm at.....
I changed the tensioner - no joy
Now I've got a Gatorback belt on order (HELLO AUTOZONE - CAN YOU GET THAT TO ME ANYTIME SOON
)I hope that does it or I'm possibly gonna have to do the idler AND the tensioner again...
03-01-2005, 11:57 AM
#11
Race Director
I had the same symptoms on my C5, I took it to a Vette Specialty shop in the area, and they changed out some kind of tensioner (i think they said belt tensioner) and did NOT change any belts. It only cost me around $150. So that could be it too. And now I have no more squeeking/chirping 
03-01-2005, 12:49 PM
#12
Burning Brakes
This will work for your belt.
Take a bar of soap (any soap, I like ivory
) and just run it against the belt at the tensioner (on both edges) while the car is running. Your squeak will be gone.
Take a bar of soap (any soap, I like ivory
) and just run it against the belt at the tensioner (on both edges) while the car is running. Your squeak will be gone.
03-01-2005, 04:26 PM
#13
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St. Jude Donor '03-'04
Originally Posted by 98C575k
This will work for your belt.
Take a bar of soap (any soap, I like ivory ) and just run it against the belt at the tensioner (on both edges) while the car is running. Your squeak will be gone.
Take a bar of soap (any soap, I like ivory
) and just run it against the belt at the tensioner (on both edges) while the car is running. Your squeak will be gone.
03-01-2005, 05:15 PM
#14
Team Owner
Originally Posted by Evil-Twin
I have to laugh at post like this" Both Edges??? the pulleys are all seven vane pulleys , these are no V Belts......... I am sorry... this is 1950's technology when we had V belts instead of Serpentine belts with seven individual groves...the soap trick was what Grand pop did to his Buick, which never got over 4000 rpm.. and now it is rearing its ugly and non technical head again... This GOES ALONG WITH , "OH the cure is easy My grandfather use to change his oil every thousand miles, and he said too..." Blah Blah Blah.... or "Oh this is easy fix.. I knew a guy once who dated a girl who's brother use to work at the local Texaco station after school... he said, use soap it works... Belt dressing do Not work.. they last about a week... soap is worse than any designed belt dressing.. it just is urban myth...belts rarely squeak even when approaching dry rot..They will squeal if lose ...some people change out a belt and in the process redirect some grease from the tensioner or idler to quiet down the pulley.. bearings in tensioners and idlers will make noise when dry, and are often the cause for warranty repair...
I agree, usually the culprit is either the idler pulley(s) and/or the tensioner(s).
84zz4vette: I see you have a '99 (as I do) and just in case you're not aware, I thought I'd let you know that there was a GM TSB on the idler pulleys a few years ago. All the "replacement" idler pulley assemblies are of a slightly different design that incorporates a slightly thicker dust shield. According to GM, what they found was that many of the original designed dust shield on the idler pulley assemblies were being very slightly bent when torqued and were making contact with the bearing. It was apparently not enough contact to lock the bearing but was just enough to be rubbing. The redesign calls for a slightly thicker dust shield which is more resistant to distorting when the mounting bolt gets torqued. They still emphasize the need to be careful when tightening the mounting bolt and to not over-torque it. As I recall it is 37 lbft.
If you haven't replaced your idlers, you might want to give some thought to replacing them (and the tensioners for good measure too).
Don't get me wrong, I not saying that this is the only cause of a squeek, but these items are the most likely place to start. I agree with others here on the Goodyear Gator-Back belts. They are a very good choice.
HTH,
Robert
03-01-2005, 05:21 PM
#15
Burning Brakes
Originally Posted by Evil-Twin
I have to laugh at post like this" Both Edges??? the pulleys are all seven vane pulleys , these are no V Belts......... I am sorry... this is 1950's technology when we had V belts instead of Serpentine belts with seven individual groves...the soap trick was what Grand pop did to his Buick, which never got over 4000 rpm.. and now it is rearing its ugly and non technical head again... This GOES ALONG WITH , "OH the cure is easy My grandfather use to change his oil every thousand miles, and he said too..." Blah Blah Blah.... or "Oh this is easy fix.. I knew a guy once who dated a girl who's brother use to work at the local Texaco station after school... he said, use soap it works... Belt dressing do Not work.. they last about a week... soap is worse than any designed belt dressing.. it just is urban myth...belts rarely squeak even when approaching dry rot..They will squeal if lose ...some people change out a belt and in the process redirect some grease from the tensioner or idler to quiet down the pulley.. bearings in tensioners and idlers will make noise when dry, and are often the cause for warranty repair...
