Thread: Belt re-conditioner spray - Avoid

Ohhh for the old 300tdi belt squeak and all the wifes tales, woman folk remedies that go along with it. Some methods work on one or two 300tdi engines....

*Not too many mechanics would use belt squeak stop in a spray can. (mostly knowing it wont work for long and will actually end up causing the belt to break).
*Clean all the V's on the pulleys with a wire brush. (so there is no rubber, crud etc).
*Replace them pesky bearings (6203 is that common one).
*Remove the tensioner and check to see the long securing stud is tight in the alloy housing as it often gets stripped out (as its depth is only 1.5 x the diameter of the stud).
*If stud is stripped fit a stainless thread insert, if you dont want to buy a "thread repair kit" then remove the aux housing and take it to any reasonable workshop and they will prolly fit one for you for $15.00 or so. Once thread is repaired, use a bit of thread lock and fit long stud.
*Fit a new belt tensioner.
*Fit a new good quality belt (its hit and miss with the Dayco belt, but they can be ok) Continental (brand) do a belt, the size is a 7PK1580 (does the Defender, the Disco 1 there are two sizes from memory).
*The squeak can also be the a/c belt, check the tension on it while you are there.

AND ... after all that when bleeding the cooling system using the top bleeder on the thermostat housing, place a rag behind/around so coolant doesnt end up on the pulleys and belt.

I hate 300tdi belt squeak.....

Regards
Daz

Compared with that lengthy list, sprinkling a bit of talcum powder a couple of times a year seems to be a much simpler solution.

Well its not really a long list, its the basics of what you would expect to get done if taking it somewhere to get repaired.

A (consistently) squeaking belt is generally a sign of a worn belt, worn tensioner, failing tensioner, failing tensioner retaining stud, failing bearings, excessive dirt/crud in the v pulleys, all of the above.

Its a short list compared to a complete failures of the above items.

Regards
Daz

Tend to agree with Darren. Talcum powder is made to hide wet patches on armpits and babies' bums. Not to fix car belts. If something is not right on a car it should be fixed properly and not with remedies. Unless you are stuck in the middle of nowhere and that remedy will get you to somewhere where you can fix it proper.

When I purchased my 300tdi the tensioner would chirp and jump...darn loud chirp too. I took it off, drained a heap of gear box oil into it via the hole where the spring comes out, also repacked the bearing, but it was fine, didn't need it. I did the gearbox oil trick twice as the first time it quietened it a bit and reduced the jump - but the second time I added more oil and it hasn't jumped or squeaked since,,,that was about 10k km ago or more. I figured something in the tensioner was creating friction and binding hence the jump. Anyway seems to have worked, quiet as a mouse.

I did the sensible thing today and got the belt replaced with a new one. No more squeak. The old belt looked OK visually, but it's hard to know for sure. After 80,000 ks it needed replacing anyway, for peace of mind. I kept the old one as an emergency spare.

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