Thread: My squeak story

Finally I've fixed the sqeaks that were coming from my engine bay! Not without some frustration though.
Here's hoping the tale behing my process can help some others.

OK, so to start with a chirping noise was coming from one of the pulleys, I diagnosed it as the 80mm idler pulley. so I purchased a new pulley and new serpentine belt. After fitting both, all was fine for about a week until the squeak came back.

This time I recognised it as the AC clutch bearing. SO, after stripping the pulley off the fron of the AC compressor I went to the local bearing wholesaler who supplied a new bearing, presedout the old and pressed in the new for $35.

I might add, in both instances of pully and bearing being replaced that the old bearings were very noisy and worn.

So, I get back home late this morning and put the AC compressor pulley back together, put the serpentine belt back on and go to start the car, with a little bit of excitement in knowing that the squeaks are gone.

Nope... As soon as I start it up, the squeak comes back.
Now I was a little frustrated as I couldn't figure out why it was still noisy.

So, I pulled it apart again, grabbed a cuppa and sat down to think about where the noise is coming from.
Firstly, I totally removed the serpentine belt and fired the engine, just to isolate the fact that it's a pulley noise and not the engine.
All good on that front.
I then thoroughly cleaned the faces of the AC clutch plate and mounted it back onto the AC compressor. It was spinning absolutely silently, as were all the other pulleys.
So, I then put the belt back on and started it again. The noise is back immediately.

I figured now that the belt could be the culprit... So, while it was running I gave the smooth face of the belt a squirt of WD40 and bingo, the sqeaking stopped.

To isolate it completely I then put my old belt back on as I knew that this belt didn't sqeak at all.
New pulleys and bearings, plus an old belt equals no more squeaks. It's actually reasonable quiet now.

Why a brand new belt would be squeaking like that is a little strange, maybe it needs to be worn in a little longer? Maybe the belt itself is a little longer than the old one and slips a bit?

Who knows, all I know is that I'll run with the old belt and keep the new one in the back of the car as a replacement if the need arises.

The end.... for now.

P.S. It was a Dayco belt that needed a few days to settle in. LRT