My serpentine belt squeeks something fierce. In fact, its quite embarassing when I fire it up in the morning and overnight it has rained or the humidity is high ... I had the belt and alternator replaced about 5,000 miles ago and the squeek is back. Its definitely a belt noise. Its constant and I have no clue how to get rid of it. My truck is now out of the 3/36 warranty so it appears that the cost is now mine. Would a Gatorback belt solve this problem or do I have an alignment issue with another pulley or tensioner?

A new belt solved it before so I wouldnt think it would be a mechanical issue. I'm at my wits end with the noisy S.O.B. :mad:

Can anyone help with this problem?

Alignment could be an issue.

All three of my trucks (two Dakotas, current truck) have/do it. Might be the enviroment.

An alignment issue will leave a wear pattern on the belt.

Only one common thing between all three is (O.K. 2) I drive 'em and Krown oil spray. Spray may cause belt to deteriorate? Allow the moisture to get into the belt. After some driving, the squeak goes away.

One thing I have done (for trouble shooting purposes) is take a piece of sand paper, and hold against belt, while running. Caused squeak to temporarily go away. Thought there could have been a bigger problem.

Permatex spray belt dressing will cure a belt problem. Later! Frank

To make sure it's the belt (not an idler pulley or something else), lube it up by spraying some Armour-All (or Permatex belt dressing as Frank suggested) on it, if the squeak goes away, it's the belt.

If that's the case, just "lube" it occasionally, It's a pain in the a** I know, but the alternative is replacement of the belt. Some brands of fan belts just tend to "squeak" sooner/more frequently than others (some rubber lubricity issue I would guess).

Have a happy holiday everyone ):h

Did you remove the belt and start your truck to see if it was the belt? Mine turned out to be a water pump failure. Even the dealer thought it was the belt till we removed it and the squeek was still there.

i've heard of some people going with a slightly shorter belt (goodyear gatorback) i believe.. mine has always squeaked on shutdown unless the motor is totally cold when i turn it off.. i have dual alt's tho, so i've just learned to live with it..

I run the Gatorback belt and it's quiet with NO shut down squeak

My squeek is not at shutdown. It seems like its "bigtime" louder when its raining or the humidity is high.

I thought belt dressing on a serpentine belt was a "no no" ???

High humidity here in Fl. If my truck sits a day or so the serpentine belt will squeek when engine is started. Once a little heat is generated and the moisture evaps, thing is OK. I've also been advised by dealer service techs not to put any dressings on belt and especially Armorall or other slippery stuff.

I had the same problem for almost a year. Tried a new belt, and
the noise got worse after a week. Even the Gatorback only helped
for two weeks. The belt dressing made it worse,
you could hear me coming from across town. Here is what I did, and
it fixed mine. Wash all "pullies" idlers etc, with soap and water. Use a
toothbrush or other brush to get down into the grooves. Clean the belt
(I used the dishwasher when the wife was out).

The noise will stop, but it may return in a week or two. Repeat the process.
It took two clean ups to stop the noise on my truck. I had replaced the
tensioner, idlers, and have a shop full of belts.

There was a greasy "goo" down in the the grooves, that would be
distributed by the belt. Once that stuff got on the right (or wrong place)
the noise started. It would start like a cricket sound, and then over a few
days the noise was so bad I was turning heads going through town.
(not because of the straight pipe).

The biggest cause of the noise is slight alignment problems AND
silcone sprays.

Mine has been quiet for months, and if it starts that racket again, I'll
clean it again.

Good Luck

Rcher -

Howdy. I had a very similar, if not the same, problem with my '03 DMAX shortly after I bought it. I tried belt dressing - no improvement. Took it in to the dealer and they cleaned the belt (also told me to never use belt dressing on a serpentine belt) - no improvement. Next, the dealer thought it was the belt tentioner. Replaced with a new one - no improvement. Dealer next thought it was the belt. Replaced with a new one - no improvement. Finally, the dealer changed the pully on the a/c compressor. Bingo, that fixed the problem. Dealer said the pully was either milled wrong or finish-coated wrong. No more noise for almost two years now.

Hope this helps.

T

ive posted about this before as my problems sounds exactly like yours...When i start it up and theres moisture in the air..IE-rain or humid, it just goes crazy....many people mentioned spring idler adjuster as a likly cause...
When I mentioned it to be my dealer, they gave me some speal on due to high compression of a diesel that it squeaks...i just shook my head and left...

use some WD-40 a couple times in a row and just a dap every now and then and your problem will be gone. belt dressing just made mine worse...

I had the same problem. I installed a new belt and one month later it started again.My fix to this is to clean the pulleys with brake clean and sand them down with 180 grit to deglaze them, mainly the smooth pulleys. I have not had a squeak in three months. Hope this helps.

Most likely the water pump is dripping on the belt. Antifreeze causes persisent belt squeeking. Mine and others I know of have had this happen and a water pump replacment has cured the problem. I think there is a TSB from GM on this from what my dealer told me but I am not sure.

I have had the same problem (at start up) since my truck was new, noise seems to go away as the truck warms up. dealer replaced idler pully and belt day after I picked truck up squeek was back.:(

-Keith

use some WD-40 a couple times in a row and just a dap every now and then and your problem will be gone. belt dressing just made mine worse...
You shouldn't use WD-40 on any belt.
It's made from oil (a petroleum product), the belt's made of rubber (another petroleum product) - oil breaks down rubber, premature belt failure will surely follow. (ask any tech what a leaking front main or camshaft seal does to a timing belt)
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mine does the cricket in the mornings during colder months only--summer time I'm fine.

.

What do you want me to do ? Pray for the Censored squeel at start up to stop ? :D