Belt squeal

[Rooster]

OK, I'm tired of hearing my alt/ps belt squeal. I replaced it a while back with a decent Goodyear Gatorback.

Symptoms: Squeals when first started (cold) until warmed up. power steering is almost no existent. When it warms up, or under acceleration, steering is fine. When warm, only squeals when wheel is turned at idle. Last night was the worst ever. Pretty much lost power steering when I was backing into the garage.


What I'm planning to do is, tighten the bajeebus out of the belt, and see if that alleviates the issue. If not, I'll replace the PS pump, as it sure seems like its causing the issue. If not that, maybe the rack?

Am I on the right track with tightening the belt? Whats the factory spec on tightness on that belt?

Thx!

[Robk0000]

you can try some belt dressing, that usually gets rid of the sound for a good amount of time.

i heard it yesterday and lasted almost a full minute. It is very annoyng!

[Rooster]

Yup, try hearing it everytime you drive. ..

[Nate8409]

NO Belt dressing. Replace with an OEM belt or another aftermarket one. Your belt is probably glazed or something. Belt dressing just makes a friggin mess.

Or try to tighten the belt. I have never had belt squeal with all my scoobies and I have had the belts on and off of my old wrx a ton of times.

[Rooster]

How tight is tight on these things? I know on some cars if you over tighten you can wear out the alt/PS pump bearings

[Robk0000]

i think 1 finger width of play is the general rule for the belt?

might be the ac belt, If you do tightedn it up and it still squeals get a new belt, they arent expensive, while you have the belt off clean the pulleys too incase somehting got on them which caused the whole squeeling to occur.

[Rooster]

Worked on it a bit this afternoon. Looks like I cant get the belt tight enough. Tried putting a few washers between the bolt and the brace. Retightened it and the damn adjustment bolt broke...

Looks like a trip to manch Subi tomorrow.

[method]

^^^ I did that twice! Make sure you loosen BOTH bolts to the bracket...one by the alternator and another further down (assuming it is the same as my 97 OB was). That will allow it to pivot as you adjust.

Don't over tighten your belt, it will make it wear out extremely fast (you will also get rubber shavings all inside your engine bay) I've done this as well.

If your belt is still in good condition. Tighten it until squeeling goes away, then spray on some dressing. The stuff works great.

[Rooster]

Good news, belt squeal is gone! Picked up a new adjustment bolt and 2 new belts. First thing I noticed was that the alt/ps belt was a beotch to get over the alt pulley. This alone was a significant improvement over the Autobling belt. After crankng both belts tight, started teh car, no squealing at all.

Thx for the insight folks!