Belt dressing for RAV4 --- high pitch noise issue

Hi guys,

I'm getting high pitch noise from my car (2002 RAV4, 25000 miles), when my car is stopped w/ brake on and the gear on Drive or Reverse and headlight on. When I turn A/C on the noise goes away.

I took it to dealer, and they say they "lubed" the belt, since it's common issue among RAV4 and Corollas. But the noise didn't quite went go away.

After I brought it back from dealer, I noticed that I hear the noise mostly at night when I use my headlight, if I turn off the headlight, the noise goes away. If I also turn on A/C, the noise goes away.

After many hours of internet surfing and consulting my friends who knows about cars, I think I figured out why turning on the headlight causes high pitch noise.

I think my belt is slipping at the alternator. Turning on the headlight puts more loads my alternator and creates more resistance against accessory belt. Now, this time RPM stay pretty constant around 900 or so. When I turn my A/C on, RPM automatically goes up to 1300 rpm or so, and noise goes away in higher rpm.

Sorry about the long story. I guess I wanted to hear your feedback on this issue.

And wanted to find out what kind of Belt dressing I need to get for my Toyota. It's for my accesory belt since I have a chain as a timing mechanism.

Do I need to get regular one that creates more resistace on the belt? or one that actually lubricated w/ oily substance?

Sorry again for the long msg.

Sincerely,

Woody

Reply to
Me
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Take It back to the dealer and have them fix It. Its still under warranty.

Reply to
kkweaver

Agreed, have the dealership replace the belt under warranty.

You never want to lubricate a belt. It works due to the friction of the belt against the pulley, and modern multi-v belts use the back side of the belt on certain pulleys. There are various belt dressings available in auto parts stores. They may work for a short time. The real answer is a new belt. There probably is no chance of your belt failing any time soon, probably not stretched nor cracking, and the only problem is the noise. Expect the belt dressing to make a different noise until it starts to work.

Ken

Reply to
Ken Shelton

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