M60 V8 serpentine belt chirping

When I'm moving the steering lock-lock whilst parking my serpentine belt chirps loudly. Not all the time but most of the time. It's slipping for some reason.

I've recently tried a new belt and (for a different reason) new waterpump but to no avail. I'm wondering if the alternator mounting bushings could be failing?

Other alternative is power steering pump. I have a tiny leak from it and the fluid looks pretty old. I removed the reservoir and refilled that portion with clean fluid. I had intended to clean the filter screen but that doesn't seem to be possible. Is there a simple way to drain and refill the system?

Reply to
John Burns
Loading thread data ...

You have a large car with fat tyres, and you turn lock to lock while parking (presumably when stationary). This presents a large load on the power steering, and so it might make a little noise.

Reply to
R. Mark Clayton

Depending on how old the car is, it could be caused by worn pulleys. Vee belts rely on a wedging action to transmit drive. One that is lost through wear on the pulley sides, thus allowing the belt to touch the bottom of the vee in the pulley, the chances of the belt slipping is very high.

The only way I can think of is to drain the reservoir as you have already done, and disconnect the hoses from the rack or box itself. Turning the steering from lock to lock, should empty most of the fluid from the rack/box itself. A quick spin over on the starter, with a left and right turn on the steering wheel, while the wheels on the ground, should eject most from the pump and valve chamber. A few seconds running without any fluid is not going to harm the p/s system. Mike.

Reply to
Mike G

My first thought would be the tensioner not working properly. Can you measure its 'spring' with a torque wrench?

Also, are all the pulleys clean?

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I was less than impressed with the tensioner design on this engine. Why do we need a spring loaded tensioner, the old system of moving the alternator to tension the belt was simpler.

I seem to be getting decent tension. The fact the problem is intermittent is the annoying thing.

Yes.

Reply to
John Burns

How's the belt tensioner? I have had tensioners that, over a period of time, took a "set" and wanted to stay in the same position rather than apply the correct amount of tension. You could tell this when operating the tensioner without a belt on it, you'd feel a notch or detent in one spot (where the belt had previously held it all those miles)

Reply to
Fred W

M60s don't have vee belts. They have serpentine belts.

Reply to
Fred W

Mine never did. If the belt is squeeling, even under those circumstances, there is something wrong.

Reply to
Fred W

Well, just about every car that I know of that has the a serpentine belt uses a tensioner of some type. I think the modern serpentine belt may have less "stretch" compared to the vee belts of days gone-by. So getting exactly the right amount of tension by manual adjustment might be a problem.

Reply to
Fred W

But not automatic. Serpentine belts have a very long life - far in excess of a V type.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

John,

On my 1995 M3 I had an intermittent problem with a chirping sound from the serpentine belt system, it finally got to the point where when I rev'd the engine by bumping the throttle it would start to squeal.

I replaced all the tensioner pulley's and that solved the problem. It seems after 207,000 miles they had finally worn out...

Not sure if this is your problem but by your description of it, it sounds about right.

Good luck, Bob

Reply to
Bob

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.