Hello Everyone!
I have a 95 SL2 and the belt has started squealing something fierce - intermittently of course. The squeal is only in the morning when it's cold (I'm in Houston, so cold is relative)! I have to turn the car off to get rid of the squeal. Sometimes I can start the squeal by turning on the AC. If the squeal does start this way, turning off the AC will not stop the squeal, I have to turn off the car to get rid of the squeal. And, of course, the problem is slowly getting worse.
Last week, the belt squealed unbelievably - much worse than usual - and it turned out that after less than 1/2 mile of driving, the area around alternator was very very hot. I replaced the belt and that helped the problem immensely - the squeal (when it squeals, after all, this is an intermittent problem) is not as bad as it had been.
The car has 158K miles. The alternator was replaced with a NAPA part
56K miles and 3 years ago. The water pump was replaced with an Advanced Auto type part 2 years ago. The air conditioning and the automatic tensioner are original. And of course, the belt is brand new (NAPA).First question. Is it ok to put dressing on the belt since the car has an automatic tensioner?
Second question. Is this a common problem with Saturns?
Last question. I've had multiple suggestions as to what it could be. Alternator pulley, tensioner, air compressor, etc. Is there any way to narrow down the choices?
Thanks, Sandra