Hi, in recent months there have been a number of "sqeak" related questions. In reading through them, and I have responded a couple of times, it is important to address the real problem and not simply chase "noises".
Addressing just the noise issue will result in short term fixes only, and some of these will only last hours and others days.
It is agreed that the noise is a pain, and that it is caused by the grooved belt running poorly in the grooves of the various pulleys. By applying lubricants, water, and goodness knows what else we fix the noise but not the real problem.
The real problem is the way the belt tracks. If you have a vehicle with say 60-70000 kms or more at it starts this nuisance noise then the problem is, in my experience, poor belt tracking caused by the belt tensioner.
If you look closely at the tensioner from the front of the engine you will see that it has two halfs. One attached to the motor and the other with an arm and the pulley. This bounces up and down and supposedly keeps everything under tension.
Look closely between the halfs, comparing 9 oclock position with 3 oclock.
You will see that at the 3 oclock position there is a "washer or spacer" between the 2 halfs thats a sort of browny grey colour.
Now look at the 9 oclock position and you should see the same thing ie same colour and thickness.
If not then you have found your problem. The tension is no longer running parallel to the belt, and this slight degree of misalignment is enough to push the belt forward and cause the loud screaching noise.
Solution:
- Cheaper method;
Remove belt, and remove tensioner.
Measure the amount of missing "spacer/washer"-usually about 0.8-1.2mm (just kidding) but its not much.
Make up a shim of the same size and fit this behind the tensioner on the drivers side (left when looking into the engine bay).
Refit belt, and test run etc. All things being equal this will fix the problem and give you time to save up for method 2.
- Proper Fix
Remove belt, and fit brand new tensioner. It is a semi disposable part that will require changing every x ooo kms, all of which depend on where you are, the colour of your eyes and the humidity at the centre of the antartic.
If you want I can take some photos and post them on a webpage if you like, but please look at you tensioner before anymore lubricant related fixes are tried.
Cheers
Phillip Simpson
PS Why am I writing this-because a friend of mine has just brought his car around and I'm doing this fix right now.