I'm starting to hear some squealing coming from the pulley area of my car. It sounds like this:

cooper_s_beltsqueal.WAV

Is there a way to tell if this is a belt going bad or the tensioner getting weak? If it's the belt, I'll be getting a new one soon anyway with my 17% pulley kit, but it'd be a bit more unfortunate if it were the tensioner...

 

If you have the tensionner tool, try to pull it back, then let it go (slowly of course). If it goes back where it belong, the tensionner is fine. If you have to push it so it's all the way back, then it's fubar.

 

I don't have the tool. Is it possible to test with something else?

 

When you get a high-pitched squeaking noise from your engine compartment, it's typically very difficult to diagnose where it's coming from. I like to run the engine and open the hood while I'm carefully listening for the origin of the squeak. I often spray some water on the bearing to isolate which pulley or piece of equipment is making the noise. With the engine running, I typically spray the bearing shaft of each belt pulley, listening carefully for changes in the squeaking noise. Check every one in the area you hear the noise. Often, the noise will go away when the lubricant finds its way to the bearing. This works about 50 percent of the time to isolate the noise. You could also remove the belt and actually turn them with your hand. Sometimes you can feel significant resistance or hear a grinding noise as you turn each shaft by hand. If you suspect the belt may be the problem, then I recommend you replace it first. Or since you will be soon, you can try out some of the spray-on belt dressing that is available at your local auto parts store. The belt dressing is a temporary fix that makes the belt a little stickier and less prone to slipping.

 

Make sure your a/c is off and see if the noise goes away or it is reduced. If you have a bad compressor clutch it will squeak and put added tension on the belt. IMHO, I think you have a bad pulley. If it was the belt they usually will squeak louder under load.

 

Thanks for the tips. I will see what I can see. It definitely increases in pitch as I accelerate, but I don't think it gets louder since I can't usually hear it when I'm driving.