Belt Squeak after Steam Clean

[Raymond Bunch]

Guy’s I am completely out of ideas. About two weeks ago I went and steam cleaned the under-carriage of my GN. From front to back and in every crack and crevice where I could see even a speck of oil, dirt or grease that built up over the years. Oh, let me not forget all the rubber from all those glorious burn outs during my track outings.

Anyway, I have done the following:

1. Changed the accessories belt (NEW) and applied belt dressing.
2. Cleaned all pulleys with wire wheel (free of dirt, rust and debris).
3. Barrowed a belt tensioner just in case mine was bad.
4. Changes the Power Steering Pump Pulley out today (NEW From Highway Stars).

Still, nothing seems to help. All pulleys spin free with no binding, or squeaks with the accessories belt off.

While the car is running, I can spray belt dressing on the belt and the squeak will go away for a few minutes then it’s back after the car is shut off and has cooled down for a few minutes.

Only thing left to change out is the water pump? Could the bearing be bad? The pump spins freely by hand, there is no up/down or in/out play what so ever.

Thank you in advance for any help.

RB

 

[jopaustu]

I recently had a near same issue. checked everything. decided to replace the "New" acc. belt before replacing pulley's ,etc.. squeak/squeal gone.. new belt (ac delco) was no good

 

[Raymond Bunch]

I replaced the belts twice. One factory size, and the second one about .5 shorter to tighten things up. Still, squeaking like crazy.

Was the belt you replaced it with, another ac delco belt?

 

[chopped39]

No belt dressing on a serp belt. It will make it worse. Replace belt but clean all pulleys before installing new belt. I have never had any luck with dressing on a serp belt. I used Dieletric grease a couple times and it seemed to work but it does wear off .

 

[northerngn]

silicone grease

 

[Raymond Bunch]

Wow, I didn't know this. I'll take the belt back to AutoZone and exchange it out. Those guys are the ones who told me to use the belt dressing...errrr! What the best way to clean the pulleys? Carb/Brake Cleaner?

Thanks for you help guys.

 

[northerngn]

Brake clean will be fine for cleaning pulleys but dont go crazy some brake cleans may make the paint on the pulleys run...

 

[Rodney87GN]

Only thing left to change out is the water pump? Could the bearing be bad? The pump spins freely by hand, there is no up/down or in/out play what so ever.

Ray,

Did you check the power steering pump for up and down play (with the pulley on)?

I just changed out my steering pump last week for a chirping-like noise. Turns out the bearing in the pump had just enough up and down play that the pulley would cause the belt to "walk" slightly back and forth as the engine is running, which would make it chirp.

Remember when we were at Fontana and everyone was trying to figure out what that weird chirping noise was from my car...it was the power steering pump the whole time.

Also when I replaced my steering pump I cleaned the back (smooth) side of the belt with Simple Green...it cleans all the grease off it and seems to make it more "grippier".

 

[Raymond Bunch]

Rodney,
I do remember the issue you had with yours at Fontana. Mine is a bit diffrent than yours was though. Also, I carefully watched every pulley while the car was running and they all seem to be doing they're job. I also checked every pulley individually with the belt off and they seemed fine that way too.

I will clean everything up, and will do the Simple Green thing you suggested on the smooth side of the belt. Hopefully I can rid everything of all this sticky belt dressing I had put on. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

Thanks again fellas!

 

[jopaustu]

I replaced the belts twice. One factory size, and the second one about .5 shorter to tighten things up. Still, squeaking like crazy.

Was the belt you replaced it with, another ac delco belt?

I purchased a belt from a local parts store for the replacement. I think it was a Duralast. The squeaker was a AC delco purchased from Highway Stars

 

[Gary Wells]

Rat:
Could you have steam cleaned enough to wash the grease out of the idler arm bearings or anywhere else that has grease in it?
Just a thought.
I used a high pressure hose with hot water once on a '86 vette and washed the grease out of the idler pulley bearings.
It squealed with a belt on it but spun freely by hand with no indication that anything was wrong without the belt.
There's grease in the water pump also, I believe.

 

[BIGPSI]

sprinkle some comet on the belt then start it. the comet will eat any little burrs off the belt and be quite

 

[charlief1]

Put a rachet on the tensioner and try to tighten it while the engine is running. If the squeek goes away you most likely have a tensioner that's lost tension.

 

[chops]

Put some silicone on the belt !!!!!

 

[Ttype6]

Years ago,when I went through this same problem I discovered that the crank pulley sets more toward the engine than the rest of the pulleys.I then discovered that Buick made a spacer to fix this alignment issue. I fixed my alignment problem by gluing washers on the back side of the crank pulley and then bolting it onto the balancer. During my quest for a solution,I discovered that ArmorAll protectant was a very effective squeaky belt maintenance product. No other brand of protectant would work and belt dressing made it squeal more. It was my finding that the two major causes of belt squeal are miss-aligned pulleys and a loose belt. Aligning my pulleys didn't fix my problem completely. I finally discovered that my tensioner pulley was being allowed to travel to its extreme outward position which was allowing my belt to slip. I had the correct belt for the turbo Buick application,so I purchased the next size smaller belt and have never had a squeal since.I guess you should check to make sure your smaller belt is,in fact,not allowing your tensioner to move to its extreme outward position. The next thing is your crank pulley,but pay attention to all your pulleys. In the mean time you could try some ArmorAll brand protectant so you could,at least,pull your car out of the garage without your neighbors laughing at you.

 

[Raymond Bunch]

Man, you guys are great with all the ideas I haven't thought of... I will try each of the recommendations above. I just went and replaced the belt with another one, and will use Simple Green on the smooth side of the belt. I also bought some brake cleaner, I cleaned every pulley, they should now be free of all the belt squeak crap I put on along with all the oil, dirt and what not. I'm allowing it to dry right now.

If this doesn't stop the squeak, I'll move onto the comet idea, checking the tensioner while the car is running and then the silicone as a last resort. Don't want to sling grease everywhere again:tongue:

 

[Ttype6]

You'll want to check the tensioner with the motor not running.

 

[Raymond Bunch]

Ok, I believe I've got the "Squeak" under control now. Aforementioned, pulley's were cleaned of all contaniments, new belt put on and no squeak too speak of. I let the car run for a while and then took it for a drive. No squeak! I believe the problem has been solved.... In the mean time, I'll let the car cool all the way down and will start it again later to be sure.

Thanks for all your help guys!