Squeaking noise driving me crazy!!!!
 

I have a 99 trans am that has had a very loud squeak when its cold and when its warm. It used to be very very loud until I replaced the following last week. New water pump. New belt, new tensioner pulley, new idler pulley and new crank pulley. The squeaking quieted down a bit after replacing the crank pulley. Its still squeaking coming from the driver side by the power steering. I bought another belt yesterday and still nothing. As soon as water touches the belt it goes away for about a minute.

It could be that either or both of the alternator /power steering pulleys have rubber residue from the old belt. Clean them off and see what happens.

ive done that as well with a wire brush 😥

Try some type of cleaner. There might be something the brush did not remove

The sound comes from driver side near power steering and water pump. The pump is new. If i spray the belt rub side on driver side the sound will get louder. If I spray the belt rib side on passenger side the sound goes away for few seconds. I tried my old belt as well and same concept.

Take a bar of soap and rub it on side/bottom of the belt while its running. Be careful not to get caught in there, no loose clothes. Should solve any belt squeal

Before putting any spray or anything on it to band aid it continue trying to find it. I say that because I've been a tech 20 years and there isn't a single belt band aid out there that lasts and doesn't make a big ass mess in the engine bay from slinging off the belt.

I've had several GM cars where the PS pulley wasn't pressed on far enough or pressed on too far cause the squeak. It will cause the belt to be misaligned and make noise.

Take a screw driver or extension and with the engine running place the shaft of the extension or screw driver in front of and behind the belt and lightly push the belt forward and backward to see what eliminates or makes the chirping worse. Apply a small little amount of pressure before each pulley and see where you get the sound to stop. My favorite place to check is between the power steering pump and crank pulley, since it's usually the PS pump pulley causing the problem.

If you want to very quickly find out if it's the belt or something to do with the belt, with the engine squirt water on the belt, if the noise stops and comes back shortly after it's something belt related.

If you can take a really clear picture of the front of the power steering pump where I can see how far the shaft is into the pulley I can probably tell you right off if it's likely to be the PS pump pulley

the side where the squeaking is coming from I sprayed and thr sound got louder. On thr Other side (passenger) I sprayed and it went away for a few seconds. I even put tension on the tensioner and it got louder 😖😖 both belts I have gotten were the same brand maybe that's it? The power steering pulley has a tad bit of play but not much. Thats the area its coming from

If the noise is changing when you spray water on the belt, getting louder and stopping all together that at least tells you it's for sure a belt related issue. But you'll have to do the rest of the steps I posted to help narrow down the problem.

Most likely the issues is alignment of the belt.

Pooter, I think you nailed it with the P/S pulley. OP says it's loudest near that one.

That's what I normally find on GM's that have a squeak that wont go away and the customer has replaced multiple pulleys/water pump/etc

But the test needs to be done to confirm it, push on the belt and see if it stops.

Update. Replaced the power steering and that did nothing. Replaced the belt again all that did was make the chirp quieter. Replaced water pump again and nothing. Crank balancer is new. Once water touches the belt threads it gets quiet for a second. Tensioner "I was told was replaced". Idler Pulley is new as well. Squeak doesnt happen with the belt off car for the few seconds I ran it without. Any ideas please

Ivory Bar soap. Use it

Slapping parts on is not diagnosing. You need to diagnose the issue first. I told you how to do it. I do it for a living and have for 20 years.

The squeak is going to be from a contaminated belt, never spray anything on a belt but water, it's always a short term cure if you apply anything at all to a belt. There's bandaids and there's repairs. Trust me I've seen people try everything in my line of work and it never lasts. You can fix it or you can bandaid it over and over and over.

This would have been a lot cheaper to diagnose and repair once. Throwing parts at it gets really expensive.

Replacing the "power steering" I don't even know what that means but the problem is usually that the pulley is not pressed on to the right depth. I asked for pictures and told you how to check it. If you don't get it at this point no other amount of ideas are gonna get you there.

Nothing is cheaper, faster, or easier than rubbing bar soap on your belt and there is no harm in doing this. Its not as if you can no longer solve a potentially deeper problem if you make your belt noise go away with soap, it wont harm a damn thing. Or go buy pricey belt dressing if you want that does the same thing as soap.

If there is a problem with the pulleys or idlers you can usually diagnose easy with the belt off and giving everything the spin and eyeball test. If there is a problem you dont find? Your belt wont last long. Good luck

Yeah!! Why fix something you can rig up every week or two and constantly be annoyed by the squeaking and having to mess with it over and over. And who cares if the belt is covered in goo and it slips and slings shit all over the engine bay.

Besides if you don't fix it and it tears up the belt that's cool, it's fun wasting money and working on the same thing over and over. Should be fun if you want to go on a long trip, or maybe you wont be able to because you can't trust your car.

I've seen it a hundred times as a tech.. People just want to believe whatever is easy and cheap. But they never do the math on what's actually cheaper. Fixing it once the right way or tossing shit at it over and over and bandaiding it endlessly.

Worth noting use dry white bar soap only. Not spray goop or oil, eeee gads NO OIL only use bar soap. Or buy a stick of bar belt dressing, its used all the time in our industry as part of the installation and service protocol its not at all considered a band aid. Harmonics happen, we use tools to defeat them. Dressing a belt is a tool for that and will not harm anything.

the new spray dressings are crap. Made for safety reasons, not because they work better than the solid type.

Whatever profession you were in was not automotive repair. Soaping a belt IS NOT part of installation and service on a vehicle and it is not a long term "fix". You were in an industry where frequent maintenance and wasted dollars was deemed normal and accepted.

It is not that way in the automotive field.

There is a fix for the squeak and soap is not it. And it can hurt, the driven accessories on an engine have a much higher drag than what you were working on i'm sure, that's why cars have gone from 3 rib to 4, all the way up to 8 in factory applications and increasing the belt wrap. Applying a substance to the belt only enhances the chances of more problems. There is absolutely no right way to band aid it. You either fix it or you don't.

I've worked with a ton of guys like you, when YOU can't find a solution you think there isn't one. And then you go telling everyone else it just can't be fixed. I get cars in like that all the time. I'm the lead tech over 7 shops and I have several of you guys under me. It get's fixed at my shop. That's why I get paid what I do. Granted it took me YEARS to get here and was not easy. I used to get stuck on this shit all the time and I just sought out guys smarter than me to learn from. But I never accepted a bandaid as a repair.

Thank you sir for pointing that out. You clearly know more

Do you also know that installing high performance parts and modifying your cars is NOT part of installation and service guides by manufacturers as well? Better tell the boards that mods and tricks are NOT approved methods of solving easy problems. Anyways I think the OP can choose what to do for himself if someone wants to try or not try the soap trick thats on them and either way I wish the OP best of luck on his nosie issue

Look at what you just wrote.

All along I thought people installed high performance parts to enhance performance... Damn I'm stupid.

And for the second part I'll tell anyone that tricks are not repairs. Unless it means it retains the original service life of a proper repair, then we can call it a repair and not a trick.

The soap will not last near as long as the repair. If you like constantly fooling with crap on your car instead of fixing it and forgetting about it for a few years, go ahead. I'd rather just spend the time fixing it and moving on with my life to other issues that need fixing.

Thats cool I'll explain;

Problem: too slow
Solution: mod with aftermarket performance parts


Guess I saved you the trouble of enlightening everyone on procedure now

I've just been where you guys are hundreds of times. And I've tried your way, and seen customers try your way. I'm a professional that people count on to fix their cars. The way you're recommending leads to comebacks and pissed off customers and a loss of business. So I have to find a permanent fix. I have and I'm trying to share that with you guys but some people would rather fight than listen to someone that's experienced what they are going through and trying to help them with it.

Your example isn't in line with your recommendation, that's in line with mine.

Your example above is a repair. You put a part on it to fix the issue.

COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than wiping some shit on it that temporarily fixes the issue then needs repeated frequent applications of the product.

Jesus christ man this really isn't that hard to follow.

No where did I say you were wrong about your approach. My first post in this thread was to use some soap BECAUSE with age, and belt condition and a non new system each bearing is going to have slightly different load resistance and each pulley will have wear and maybe corrosion yet NONE of those parts may be thrashed and still good for a few years. If so? Dressing the belt might make the noise go away and "solve" the issue the OP is asking about without having to spend a ton of time, or money ( soon as you start tearing them apart it ALWAYS costs money )

If the dressing did not solve the OP's problem I figured he would post back up at which time I would advise more intensive efforts. The easy fix is go to dealer, purchase BRAND NEW WITH WARRANTY. The road between that cost and my stingy approach to saving dollars is vast and wide and up to YOU whoever reads this to decide whats worth doing, or buying. You pay either way the choices are yours

If you don't want to believe me maybe you can believe one of the biggest manufacturers of automotive belts and pulleys.

Read and learn and realize why anything applied to a belt makes the issue worse than it ever was. I didn't know the terminology of this until just now but I have experienced it in the shop.

http://www.daycoproducts.com/why-bel...t-a-noisy-belt

Changing bearing condition does absolutely nothing to belt noise. If that were the case every time you turned the steering wheel and the load went up on the pump the belt would squeal every time you turned on the headlights and the ac and the load went up on the pulley the belt would squeal.

In my 20 years belts squeal for two reasons. Fluid contamination, usually antifreeze or belt dressing. And misalignment. That's it.

Pulleys make their own noises.

They want to sell belts.

As I said, buy all brand new with warranty and there is no problem. Old used stuff you have to decide what to do;

1. take to shop and pay the bill
2. try it on your own, buy parts, take chances
3. ask on forums for suggestions on how to repair

Option 3 is filled with opinions and options. Some will work, some wont. The choice is each of ours to make

Again, not once did I say your approach was incorrect it only costs more time, and money than my simple trick is all. I'd say 1/3 times the dressing solves the noise in my experience. Sometimes you need to dress the belt again in time, sometimes not. Certainly isnt going to hurt anything

The article I posted said the dressing would quieten a belt. But if it's misaligned it doesn't stop the destruction of the belt.

The OP has new belts, so they don't need dressing. Misalignment is the obvious issue or the belt is too loose. He said he put on a new tensioner so it's safe to assume that's not the case and loose belts usually squal real loud under load then chill out. He's basically saying it squeaks at all times. That's an alignment issue that no amount of whatever you put on it will help.

Wow dude your on fire! Each bearing has different rolling resistance than the next and with age its even more vast. tensioner load varies and on and on. All of this can affect harmonics and cause nose but this DOES NOT MEAN the sum of these components are garbage, it could be a simple harmonic

Harmonic

Jesus fuck they gave you the science behind why you could use belt dressing in the past and cant now.

You didn't even read it did you?

This is a massive waste of time you're one of those guys that like I said earlier want so hard to believe whatever is easy and cheap that you'll deny any level of proof put in your face. I've told you I've tried this shit for 20 years. I told you I've seen it all and what the effects are.

:bang:

If the system is out of whack the dressing wont last an hour. Again, this was my suggestion for the first step, not a cure all

Deny what proof? Again I never once disagreed with your plan, Im only trying to save the guy a few bucks with a simple first step trick that sometimes works. Thats it

Dont lose your poop over it.

Like I said dipshit, pulleys make their own noises.

Belts make belt noises.

You can't even keep up with your own examples.

You're reaching so god damn far to win it's hilarious.

Look, I live in the environment you speculate about. You're now throwing out theories about harmonics in pulleys. What does that have to do with belt squeal?

We weren't talking about my plan at that time we were talking about why you shouldn't use a belt dressing. I posted an article stating why. You didn't read it and you aren't keeping up.

Win what? I think your clearly confused and very angry because you prefer a different approach. I respect your approach I merely had a simple trick to offer that sometimes solves belt noises.

Dont let that wreck your day bud

LOL. I'm not.

Have a good one man, I gotta go christmas shopping I'm wasting my day conversing belts and soap on ls1tech

Y'all have fun gotta run :cheers:

Oh and read the article. It's short and has good info that may apply in your field someday if it doesn't already.

By the way, soaping a belt is fine. But new belts are never the same after you apply something so just know you majorly reduce the service life if you apply substances to them. I've literally tried everything and you end up buying another belt before long. I've tried.. soap, wax, wd40, belt dressing, oil, water, brake cleaner, wire brushes and screwdrivers with the engine running etc..

A proper repair and a new belt is the only thing that lasts.

THE best remedy I've found that lasts, that is kind of a bandaid for chirpy cars is the Goodyear gatorback belt. They are excellent at helping cure a chirp when only a minor issue is causing it that isn't tearing up the belt.

Always a good idea to try one of those.

Right on. I hope the mods dont edit the snot out of this either. Its important to disagree, hold your positions, come to terms with one another and walk away toasting glasses!

Cheers brother :cheers:

Have fun out there in the zoo Im all done my Christmas shopping I win that struggle today :gruffy:

Ah yes and Merry Christmas to you and yours, and to anyone else out there who celebrates Christmas best to you all as well.

To the ones who dont, I wish you good times and good days ahead

Thanks man I agree, for once ahaha.

Thank you for that, Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.

I made it out alive, and yes you did win that one. I'm beat up after only a couple of hours.

Update guys. A gates belt from orileys fixed the problem. I guess the $18 belts weren't good enough.

Good to hear. Hope the noise stays gone for ya. Sometimes a new belt does the trick and sometimes it stays quiet for a few days then comes back and it may wait until the first humid or rainy day before it returns. If so post back up and we can continue to help you find it. Hoping it's fixed though!

I'll post a video in a second. After all this talk I had a car come in today with a belt squeal and the customer applied belt dressing and made the problem worse, as it usually does.

I made this video today. Had a car come in this morning with a squeaky belt and the customer tried belt dressing that didn't help any. Hope this helps a little.

Nice video! Good illustrative instruction on SQUEEEEEEEKY belts!

Appreciate it. A squeaky belt is one hell of a nuisance so I feel OP's pain.

And a follow up.

I've always worked in independent stores except now, currently I work for a chain store where the owner owns 8 shops, but we have zero corp. support or influence so I still consider it an independent. I worked for NTB for 3 weeks and quit and a little car lot for 3 months but I don't really count those.

Never worked at a dealer. I was an account manager for a few years and had dealerships as my accounts, but that's the closest I've came to working at a dealer.

Belt dressing made my belts squeal louder. I bet all the new belts I used cleaned it from the pulleys

Yep that's the way it goes. And lol, They probably did.

In my experience the belt dressing usually makes it worse lol . The longest lasting band aid fix that I have found is ... please dont shoot me for this ...put some of the black silicone stuff , it has worked for me every time.

I don't care what people do to their cars as long as they understand what they are doing and what they are recommending others do. So there'll be no shooting lol. What black silicone stuff are you talking about? Like silicone lube or actual silicone, like RTV silicone sealer.

RTV silicone sealer , surprisingly it doesn't make a big mess either .

Yeah it should dry up and not sling all over like a spray liquid will. How are you putting it on there? Are you coating the whole belt with it?

It sounds like a super redneck rig up btw lol

I know it sounds really bad but hey give it a shot next time and see for yourself lol . All I do is smear it on the ribbed side with the engine running . It does sound really redneck if I were to coat it and let it dry and throw it on haha

Smear it on the ribbed side with the engine running..... so how many fingers you have left? If any....

I was just curious, I couldn't picture how or what you were doing. I personally would never do it because it's too easy to just change the belt. That and having silicone all in the pulleys isn't something I'm interested in.

There's only one thing I've ever found that does truly work. I've tried soaps, wax, chalk, oil, belt dressing, water, brake cleaner... you name it. The only thing I've found that helps is taking a wire brush and holding against the belt as the engine runs. It will clean the belt and knock some of the glaze off the rubber and quieten it down. Belts are kinda soft, almost like they have a lint on them when you get them (in the ribs). Over time they glaze over kinda like a brake rotor does. And once they get like that it's time to change them because they will squeak a little from the hard/glazed surface. A wire brush will take some off that off and get to some of the fresh rubber underneath and help quieten them down.

That being said, it's still like 20 minutes and 30 dollars to just change it and be done with it. I don't like messing with things over and over or doing things that cause other issues, so I just change them and move on to other things that need attention, there's always something. Especially when you have a house, boat, wife and kids. That and when I fix things right, the repair lasts for years and I can cut down my to do list. Band aiding things means I have to keep messing with things more often and then I always have 10 things on the list and it aggravates the hell out of me.

This thread was quite entertaining. One minute someone is calling another a dipshit and the next they're kissing and making up!! Right on!!

Now to offer a little of my experience. I solved my belt chirping years ago with a spray bottle of water and an laser alignment tool. The spray of water confirmed that it was a belt issue... and not a bearing or tension. The power steering pump pulley was a little off so after aligning it .... good to go!! Oh and belt dressing is nasty ... it will cake shit everywhere and then your belt sounds like rice crispy treats jammed in there .....

That does help!! Also run some sand paper on the water pump pulley and smooth it out ... it can have grooves that cause the belt to track improperly.

Haha don't have to use your fingers, just smear it with a big tube just give the handle a few squeezes . Never said its the right way , I agree its totally redneck , the right way do it is of course diagnosing it , replacing the belt and tensioner/pulleys period . I just mentioned it because its something that worked for me . Would I do it on a customers car that comes in with a Porsche Cayenne turbo and a belt issue no , but would I try one of the above mentioned band aid fixes on my broke ass cousins rusted bucket 250,000 mile Toyota Yaris that I know is never going to pay me , hell yeah.
Also have to remember there are other engines than the LS where it takes more than 10 mins to replace the belt .

I can see all of that and agree. I come across as a hard ass about things sometimes because I have to do things that last. I am a tech and I charge people, therefore I have to do it the best and longest lasting way possible, I cannot and will not risk losing a customer. But yeah on a rust bucket farm truck or something like that, a bandaid is par for the course. And again, I don't care what people do to their own cars but it is frustrating to see people recommend half ass things to people on these forums as the proper way to fix things. You did not do that you stated straight up what it was and that's cool as a cucumber.

And yeah some belts are harder. But for me, a couple hours of my time every few years or 20 minutes of my time every month for years... I do get what you're saying completely though.

I called him a dipshit in a supportive manner lol. Like cmon buddy, ya dipshit. Haha.

But you ran into what i've seen a lot. It's real easy to get the power steering pulley in the wrong spot, it's a design that annoys the absolute shit out of me. Tons of cars out there have bolt on ps pulleys, but a few of the domestics love their press on pulleys and it's gay as can be. Then you have other press on pulleys on the same engine like the crank pulley but it stops when it's in the right spot.. They couldn't build a lip on the pulley or something for it to bottom out on and keep this crap from happening? Engineers man..

As an engineer myself, it too annoys the hell of of me that the pulley must be pressed on to some certain depth instead of a fixed flange that a pulley could be bolted onto. And it doesn't take much by way of misalignment of the belt before it starts chirping like a dry bearing. I'm sure a lot of people have thrown pulleys and tensioners at the system in a shotgun and expensive manner trying to quiet things down.

Anything and everything is permissible in this situation, lol.

Moving this as a 99 T/A is Gen III, not IV and maybe some of the guys on that forum will enjoy this thread ...:nod:

Looks like it got moved back....

I hear you as I was a tech for a good while. Just for info. I recently got a turn one P/S pump. Came assembled with their pulley. Installed it & belt alignment perfect. Lol. I was actually thinking it might not be at correct alignment when installing.

As an engineer I'm sure you can see where someone dropped the ball on the design. It's not hard to see that tons of people are gonna goof up the depth placement of the pulley. Yes i'm sure tons of people have wasted tons of money on that. That design has been around for what, over 50 years?

That's awesome the turn one comes with the pulley installed, and to the right depth. Not all heros wear capes!

Belts age even if not in use,, check your date codes when you buy them.. (Just like tires... )
I won't take a belt more than 1 year old.

FWIW,, my Jeep has no tensioner and you have to bring the serpentine up to full tension then recheck after the first hundred miles, You will not get it right without a belt tension gauge.. Don't use a gage and I almost guarantee a squeaky belt in a few hundred miles. The Gatorback belts have good bones, you can tighten them up and they stay , very little stretch.

IN a pinch ,, I have actually soaked a belt down with WD40 (Has to be running)
it will soften the rubber enough to drive for a week or so, basically long enough to get a new belt.. :)
The solvents soften the rubber a little and give it back some grip.
On my jeep once the belt squeaks its over.. No amount of tightening will make it stop.
When properly adjusted I get about 30K out o f a belt.

Fixed . Somehow mistyped and threw in an extra "not"