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THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHBelt squeals when engine is cold and quickly goes away
Reported or suspected cause
idler (or tensioner) roller bearing
Reported cause
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Reported cause
When my Turbo made that noise it proved to be an idler (or tensioner) roller bearing.
Belt squeals when engine is cold and quickly goes away
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Leading evidence: 'idler (or tensioner) roller bearing' (1 discussions report identifying this cause; no attributable repair resolution). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'idler (or tensioner) roller bearing' (1 discussions; 1 report identifying it and 0 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Check each pulley by hand' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
I inspected the belt with flash light very carefully and doubted it it'd be belt because it looked like it's in good shape.
Belt squeals when engine is cold and quickly goes away
Replace lot
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Belt squeals when engine is cold and quickly goes away
Check each pulley by hand
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Suggestion
In any case, it's easy to remove the airbox and the sepertine belt to check each pulley by hand.
Belt squeals when engine is cold and quickly goes away
Check each pulley soon
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Suggestion · Original poster
I agree with you that I still need to check each pulley soon.
Belt squeals when engine is cold and quickly goes away
Replace belt
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Suggestion
However, I was trying to encourage the OP (icarus - you know the guy who put on some wings and flew to close to the sun, caught fire and plunged to his death) to just replace the belt.
Belt squeals when engine is cold and quickly goes away
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I am a new owner of 2004 C4S (3 months). This may be a noob questions but I'd appreciate your opinion. My belt squeals like the video for about a minute when I start the engine and goes away.
996 C4S belt squeals - YouTube
The belt seems to be in good shape even though I haven't removed air intake. Could this be either worn belt or loose tensioner pulley OR something else? I just 74k miles the other day.
Thank you!
UPDATE: After reading the replies, I decided to try spraying method. I went ahead and sprayed WD40 right next to alternator pulley (easiest to access) and the noise went away in 3 seconds. How funny? I doubted it it'd be belt because it looked like it's in good shape when I carefully inspected it (the ribbed side) with flashlight.
If it 'squeals' its the belt. Change it. I see the edges look worn on the video. I had to change mine at about 50000 miles. No squealing but it was fraying at the sides. Yours is due. No if's or but's.
Jup agree, change it, and when you have it off check that the wheels can move freely and there are no major slack on them. Mine were all god and the squeal went away.
The reason for a squealing belt is that the compound it's made of gets old and harden, when that happens it produces less grip on the wheels generating slip which again produces the squeal. You can also firstly try to spray belt adhesive spray on the belt, if the squeal goes away your belt is due for replacement.
Here is a DIY video
Yeah mine does this after it's warmed up with little to no load (under 1500 rpms or so). I had the dealer look at it, they changed the belt last year and the noise is still there, they told me the pulleys are working fine...im pretty sure there wrong. It's quite loud and annoying the way it sits, I'm thinking a new underdrive pulley for some more power
Also the 7 or so ribs on the inside wear thinner so there is less "grip" in the grooves of the pulleys. Change it use brake cleaner and wire brush to clean crud off each pulley. then put old belt in the frunk for emergency
The only way you will find out is to check it. The Bentley DIY video I added in my previous post is quite simple. I had never done this before and it took me 10 minutes. Highly recommended.
When you get a high-pitched squeaking noise from your engine compartment, it's typically very difficult to diagnose where it's coming from. A good idea is to run the engine and open the engine access lid while carefully listening for the origin of the squeak. Often using a can of WD-40 with the spray nozzle extender attached to try to isolate which pulley or piece of equipment is making the noise. With the engine running, soak the bearing shaft of each belt pulley, listening carefully for changes in the squeaking noise. Check every one, including the water pump, power steering pump, alternator, and the air conditioning compressor. Often, the noise will go away when the lubricant finds its way to the bearing. This works about 50 percent of the time to isolate the noise.
Another way to check the pulleys is to remove the drive belt and actually turn them with your hand. Sometimes you can feel significant resistance or hear a grinding noise as you turn each shaft by hand. Again, check each one, including the shafts of all of the accessories. All three of the idler pulleys should feel about the same. The accessories (alternator, water pump, etc.) will each feel different, so it's difficult to tell if there's anything wrong with the bearing unless you spin these on multiple cars every day.
Read more info at this
DIY Tech Article
.
-Luccia
[QUOTE=PelicanParts.com;12261754]When you get a high-pitched squeaking noise from your engine compartment, it's typically very difficult to diagnose where it's coming from. A good idea is to run the engine and open the engine access lid while carefully listening for the origin of the squeak.
Often using a can of WD-40 with the spray nozzle extender attached
to try to isolate which pulley or piece of equipment is making the noise. With the engine running, soak the bearing shaft of each belt pulley, listening carefully for changes in the squeaking noise. Check every one, including the water pump, power steering pump, alternator, and the air conditioning compressor. Often, the noise will go away when the lubricant finds its way to the bearing. This works about 50 percent of the time to isolate the noise....
Hurdy working for pelican now??
If you suspect the belt, you can just spray a little bit of water on the belt on both the smooth side and the ribbed side when the engine is running. That will quiet the belt temporarily, if it's the belt.
I sprayed WD40 right next to alternator pulley (easiest to access) and the noise went away in 3 seconds. How funny? I inspected the belt with flash light very carefully and doubted it it'd be belt because it looked like it's in good shape.
When you say right next to the pulley, did you mean you just spray WD40 onto the belt? In any case, it's easy to remove the airbox and the sepertine belt to check each pulley by hand.
Yes I sprayed onto the belt not the pulley just in case it's alternator pulley that makes the noise. I agree with you that I still need to check each pulley soon.
I would not do that, WD40 is a lubricant not an adhesive. The way the belt works is that the grooves in the belt provide grip so as to not slip, when adding lubricant it will slip more but without noise. Would be curing the symptom and not the cause. The extra slip provided with the WD40 will also make your water pump, generator, AC and power steering not work optimal. With an adhesive you will provide more grip and the noise should go away if it is the belt.
There are special adhesive belt sprays for this, it's like glue on a spray box. Try with that, if the noise is still there, you have a problem with one of your pulleys.
WD40???? So I am not the only one who uses it lol.
YEE Posters of little faith. Eat your heart out. BTW Myself I would NOT use any WD40 anywhere near a rubber belt.
22 posts on a slipping belt? It is a ten minute job and $20 to replace the serpentine belt. I cannot believe anybody would debate this more than 60 seconds to make a decision. Spraying crap on the belt does not work. Just replace the damn belt and move on!!!
Dang, are we a cup low on morning coffee?
But yes I agree if more people would fix these cars themselves all of them would be in much better condition and worth more in the end.
Yeah...perhaps that was a bit curt this morning. However, I was trying to encourage the OP (icarus - you know the guy who put on some wings and flew to close to the sun, caught fire and plunged to his death) to just replace the belt. The belts will squeal when old, hard and worn out. It really is a simple thing to replace the belt. That is really the most inexpensive thing to start with, plus he can check all his pulleys by hand while doing this. As he stated at 2:21AM - he sprayed some WD-40 somewhere near the alternator and the noise went away. That is not a good long term solution, and WD-40 will probably mess up the belt. The best solution - remove belt, check all pulleys by hand, install new belt.
Hmm did not make the connection to Icarus. now that is interesting and sorta funny. Yep we coulda had this fixed by post #9.
Now we can just keep this moving to take place of the other silly posts about other "The sky is falling threads"
You're correct on that. The right way to do it is put a mechanic stethoscope on each roller bolt and listen for a noise. However, we like to try to help more people that may not have access to a stethoscope. The WD40 is another way to determine which roller is making noise, but it's important not to get WD40 on the belt if you plan on reusing it. When Wayne uses the spray straw he uses a very SMALL shot of WD40, but being smart about how much is used. Hope this clarifies the statement and thank you for your input.
-Luccia
