Squealing belts

[russgoni]

I have a 440 engine and I can't stop the alternator belt from squealing. I've tried everything (hopefully not but you get the idea). How can I effectively line up the pulleys?

 

[67 coronet]

check for cracked or bent brackets first.if the belt pulleys are out of allignment,you can use shimms,or washers to get them to line up normally.if that dont work,you might see if you can replace the brackets or pulleys you have.maybe one is wrong.

 

[russgoni]

Thanks

Kinda what I was thinking....know the best place to buy replacement pulleys brackets etc?

 

[tpodwdog]

Bees wax!

 

[Dako]

Did it just start squealing out of the blue or did it start after something was changed? Is it the belt or actually a bearing going out? An easy way to verify the belt is to drag a bar of soap or bees wax (mentioned above) along both sides of the belt while the car is idling. If it quiets down, you have confirmed the belt is the culprit. Neither hurts the belt.

If it started after say...the alternator or water pump was changed, I would be looking at the alignment of the pulleys. If it started after the belt was changed, I would be adjusting its tension. Hope this helps.

 

[shag766]

Did it just start squealing out of the blue or did it start after something was changed? Is it the belt or actually a bearing going out? An easy way to verify the belt is to drag a bar of soap or bees wax (mentioned above) along both sides of the belt while the car is idling. If it quiets down, you have confirmed the belt is the culprit. Neither hurts the belt.

If it started after say...the alternator or water pump was changed, I would be looking at the alignment of the pulleys. If it started after the belt was changed, I would be adjusting its tension. Hope this helps.

X2

 

[mzizzi]

add some oil works the same for squeaky brakes! kidding kidding, you can try check the alignment, but also look for paint on the belt rubbing off from the pulley, sometimes the paint acts as the semi-lubricant and is what squeals. all else fails tighten the belt, she may be too lose. as a worst case scenario check to see how well the alternator spins, if it's getting a backfeed current in the coils it could be causing the alternator to fight the spin like an induction coil being back fed (layman's terms like a magnet in a copper pipe the induced current is what is fighting the rotation). check for free spin. check for spacing and check for belt fit.

 

[Tank]

Check to make sure you don't have any coolant leaks that are causing the belt to get wet, slip and squeak. Sometimes water pump weep hole leaks can be really difficult to detect, and the coolant will get the belt just wet enough to squeak. Does the squeaking happen immediately when the car is fired up, or start after the temps. warm up?

 

[5.7 hemi]

Scotchbrite pad on the belt and pulley will take the "glaze" off.

 

[SwedCharger67]

Free spin??

The more load (more amps) you put on the alternator, the more it will resist rotation, this is the nature of the beast. There is nothing like free spin on a loaded alternator.
That's why it´s from a performance point of view wasted money to put in an electric water pump in a street car, the power to drive it will be taken from the alternator which will put the load on the engine (same load as a belt driven).
In a race car with a battery powered water pump there is a very slight performance increase.

 

[Photon440]

Just forget the belts and convert to chain drive.

(grin)

 

[ykf7b0]

I had this same problem and a Dayco ribbed back belt solved it for me.