Squealing Belt

[rossman]

I just got my belt and water pump replaced. Since that my belt has been squeeling. I had it tightened by my mechnic but he doesnt want to over tighten it and blow the pump.

The belt seems to squeek when I start the car, then it stops. It has just recently started squeeling when I am stopped at a light.

Any suggestions?....would applying belt dressing help prevent the belt from slipping?

[ROCKLANDTOYOTA]

no warranty on that new belt??? even if its autoparts store im sure it has some sort of warranty....

[swidd]

why don't you tighten it yourself? Unless you are super strong or use a super size pry bar, I don't think you can over tighten it. Just don't put a bar against the oil valve thingy. Put it against the engine mount on the side... took me a while to figure out how it would fit in there to provide proper pressure on the alternator...

I got squeaky sounds at 85,000 miles, and figured I'd replace the belt. So I did it myself, and still had squeaking after replacement. So I tightened it some more, and now I have no bad sounds at all. The condition of the old belt was actually not bad at all... small cracks, no major wear, could've kept going to 100,000 or longer.

I think the manual says 7-8mm when installing, 11-13mm deflection after running for 5 minutes... That's not much really. + I think the belt stretches a little after 5 minutes of running also.

[RedRide]

First off, your mechanic is to be commended for not wanting to overtighten the belt.

A new belt should not squeal if everything is lined up and tightened properly.

However, as pointed out a new belt can stretch a bit when new. So, I would check to make shure it is tightened properly

[aprilnroberts]

Do you think a dying battery would affect the belt squeak? I was told that with the voltage being low that might be putting a load on the alternator, causing the belt to squeak.

whats your thoughts?

[marcus]

just tighten it bit by bit until squeeling stops. i always thought if it squeels its loose still. best to do it in winter time.

[ilikerice]

sounds like the belt has stretched. this is why I HATE dayco and driverite belts. They are like rubber bands.

Belt dressing is really just used as a diagnosis. If the squeel goes away when you spray it, then its the belt, the squeel will come back after a bit. (used mostly when you have a small consistant squeel that is hard to tell the difference between a squeel and a bearing).

I agree with most here, just tighten it up some more.

[Geoff Peace]

Apply firm thum pressure midway on the longest run of the belt. It should deflect 8 to 9mm. If greater it needs tightening. If OK do not tighten any more it will ruin the water pump bearing, a new, quality belt is needed, the pulleys cleaned and the belt tensioned correctly.

Regards Geoff Peace.

[yaris4062007]

I had same problem after replacing belt and water pump from toyota dealer I had to replaced with new belt , my other belt had less then 5k miles on it. Problem fixed :)