Alright guys I have a 99' Pontiac TransFormula that I bought a few months back. Ever since I've had the car it has had a drive belt squeal that chirps sometimes and goes away after the vehicle is fully heated up and driven for about 20 minutes. I replaced the power steering pump, idle pulley, and the belt. I also replaced the tensioner pulley and idler pulley for the a/c belt drive. The squeal has gone down some but still drives me crazy. Can someone please tell me what's wrong!

 

I had the same problem on my p/u truck once. It was about this time of the year mostly cool,wet,dewy mornings. I replaced the belt and idler/tension pulley. It seemed to help but there was still a squeel/chirping sound. Mine turned out to be both the original idler/tension pulley and the replacement idler/tension pulley making the noise. My original pulley was metal and from Canada but when I took off the belt you could tell the bearings where shot, so I bought a replacement one. The replacement one was plastic and from China....after taking it back and buying a higher quality metal one the noise went away.

Here is some things you can do to try to isolate the noise. Buy an auto stethoscope ($10 bucks from Harbor freight) and with caution put the stethoscope as close to the various componants to see if you can hear which pulley is making the noise as well as visually inspect belt alignment and or pulleys that wobble. If that's not obvious, then take the belt off and spin/wiggle/inspect each pulley. If that doesn't show anything, then put the belt back on, start it up and spray belt dressing on the belt and or spray lube in the bearing areas of each componant and try to isolate the noise that way.....keep in mind that you'll almost have to check one componant a day because as soon as you spray the belt dressing it will stop the noise pretty quickly unless it's a bearing. However, with time you can normally figure out which componant is the offending one by how quickly the noise goes away when spraying the belt dressing. Good luck...I know it's frustrating as all heck. Years of driving semi trucks you'd think I'd be able to tune out noise but no...it only gets worse.

 

Yeah need metal pulleys, the plastic ones suck. My Z28 made the same noise until I replaced all the pulleys and the belt

 

So a metal tensioner should fix the squeal. I will be going out to get one ASAP

 

I had the same issue with my 98 z28, went to all new tensioner, idlers, belt, alternator, it got better but wouldn't go away. Finally went and bought a better grade belt, no more noise.

 

I don't know if it will, but at least that was the problem I had on my p/u truck. As Bowtie316 mentioned, for him it was the belt quality. It probably just depends....each engine/pulley set up probably likes certain materials used. Good luck.

 

Well since the weather is getting pretty warm I haven't been hearing the squeak. I don't know if it's a permanent stop or just seasonal.

 

Ok so I need more help! I just tried getting in my car to leave the house and it's wont turn over. All the lights and everything come on and turning the key makes the starter click but does not turn over the engine what's wrong with it?

 

Battery might be getting weak. Could try jumping it.

 

I tried jumping it off but that didn't do anything either.

 

What does the volt meter on the dash tell you? If it's less than 10 volts your car won't start. If you jump it a crappy battery could keep the jump from supplying enough power to start the car.
To move on, let us know what the voltage of the battery is (from the dash). Turn the ignition on, what does it read, then with the ignition on turn on the headlights and see what it reads.
The reason I'd like to know the voltage with the lights on is because I'd like to know if the battery can hold the load down.

 

Sounds like you need a battery or an alternator; If you can get it started take it to auto zone or discount auto parts and they'll test them for you

 

Ok so I put a higher output alternator on my vehicle and the voltage meter in the dash cluster reads way different than what I'm testing at the battery? Any help? Is it possible for my dash meter to be bad?

 

What is the dash meter reading and how far off is it? It's normal for the gages to be a little off especially the temp gage.

 

It's like a couple volts off honestly

 

It starts off in the middle at 13 but then after disengaging my E brake it goes down below 13

 

That's about normal; the dash gages are usually off. The one on my vette reads right at 13 or below all the time.

 

If I don't have my lights on it goes does below the yellow warning lines? Why