WD-40 on a squeaky belt??

Someone mentioned spraying a squeaky belt with WD-40. I am guessing this is bad advice for because:

  1. Find the cause of the squeak and fix THAT, rather than covering up the symptom

  1. Aren't belts made partly from rubber? And aren't petroleum distillates bad for rubber?

Reply to
Ernie Sty
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I would first inspect the belt for sand in the grooves (or to see if the grooves are there at all!) I would also schlep down to AutoZone, et al and get some real belt dressing. I don't really like WD-40 for much of anything. It was originally developed as a spray for nuclear missle and ICBMs to chase water away, and not as a lubricant. It has been related to me that WD-40 will actually REMOVE any lubrication.

Reply to
hachiroku

usually the belt is too loose, but if let go for too long it may need replacement due to the damage cause by slipping.

you're not wanting to lubricate the belt to stop the squeak, i'd image wd-40 would ruin one in short order between the solvents and the lubricants. There are "belt dressings" that can add some life to a worn belt but I'd rather replace it than have it break at a very bad time.

Reply to
JeB

Yes and yes.

WD-40 is little more than kerosene. It is OK for cleaning things and not much else.

It you have a squeaky serpentine belt it is probably for one of four reasons, 1) bad tensioner (either worn or out of alignment), 2) insufficient tension (probably because of a bad tensioner), 3) worm pulleys, and 4) worn / old / hard belt. If spraying a little water on the back side of the belt quietens the squeak, then I'd suspect a bad tensioner (use a Windex bottle filled with water and just spray a small amount of water on the back side of the belt - not the grooved side).

It is a squeaky Vee belt, you probably should replace the belt and make sure it is tensioned properly. While the belt is off, inspect all the pulleys. If one of them is shinny on the bottom, replace it (or them). A vee belt should never ride at the bottom of the pulley.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

Better yet, while you are at the parts store, get the correct belt and replace it.

Belts usually squeal because they're old and glazed, have grit embedded, or have stretched. In all of those instances, the best remedy is to replace the belt.

Applying belt dressing, silicone, WD-40, etc. is like taking aspirin for a sprained ankle - it masks the symptoms but doesn't cure the cause.

Reply to
Ray O

Ahahahahah! Someone is pulling your chain (or belt?). Squeaky is caused by slippage, you want it to slip some more?

Me too was scared away from replacing a simple belt 'cuz I don't trust myself tension it properly by eyesight alone, but MX wants too much for a simple item. Finally broke down and bought a tension gauge from eBay for $35 and now do all my repairs without fear.

Reply to
bobb

WD-40 does not contain kerosene. You mean it's *like* kerosene, right?

Thanks for the tips. I will look into replacing the belt. However, the car (and of course the belt) only has 33,000 miles on it. Someone else mentioned that the belt might have sand or grit in the grooves.

Reply to
Ernie Sty

I was leaning toward the grit thing, because the car only has 33,000 miles on it, and when I had a 30,000 inspection done by the dealer, they didn't mention any wear on the belt. I just called the parts guy at my Toyota dealer to ask how much belts cost, and he said he has sold a few belt

*tensioners* for these already (this model only came out in 2003!) so I decided to have the dealer check the tensioner. Plus, I looked in there, and there is no way I'm going to be able to replace that belt myself. There's just not enough room for a novice like me to work in without breaking something, either on the car or on myself. ;-)
Reply to
Ernie Sty

True. However if multiple pulleys are shiney to the bottom, it may be that the belt is the wrong size (too narrow).

sdb

Reply to
Sylvan Butler

The good news is that it should be covered under the 36 month/36,000 mile warranty!

Reply to
Ray O

I have a belt squeel on my celica -belt is only 3000 miles old and squeels like mad. Nothing seems to cure it. Re-tensioned it, used 'dressing', took it off and cleaned all over, bla bla. Goes silent with first application of dressing then after its been used and then left parked it comes back worse than ever. Drives me nuts.

Reply to
Coyoteboy

Unless there's nothing wrong with it, in which case I'll have to pay for having them check it as well as replacing the belt (I'm not 100% certain, but I strongly doubt drive belts are covered as they are a "wear" part.) But yeah, if it's bad and they replace it, that should be free... of course, if the original only lasted 33,000 miles, I wonder how long the replacement will last. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Reply to
Ernie Sty

Three things come to mind offhand:

  1. When it started squealing, you may have fixed the problem (possibly the tension) and it still squealed, because it became damaged from the slippage which caused it to glaze. I'd try a new belt (and do not buy the cheapest one you can get, either.)

  1. One of the pulleys the belt turns might be dirty. Clean them all well.

  2. You might have bad bearings in a water pump. AC compressor, alternator, or whatever else the belt drives. That would cause the pulley to be hard to turn and would cause slippage no matter what you do until you replace the defective part.
Reply to
Ernie Sty

Brake fluid is actually the best belt dressing you can use. It also is a great rubber lubricant for rubber grommets that are in other places on you cars suspension (keeps the rubber from drying out).

Reply to
Charles Pisano

Ta, will have a look into those thoughts - much appreciated :)

Reply to
Coyoteboy

DO NOT DO THAT!! DOT-3 Brake Fluid might be a good belt dressing - but it's far and away a much better automotive paint remover. Wherever the brake fluid droplets get flung by the rotating belt (and they will) like onto the front fenders or the inside of the hood, the paint is going to bubble and peel off in the next few days.

And if you live in the rust belt, after you lose the paint the next step is body cancer (rust) wherever the paint is missing and the metal is exposed...

There are purpose made belt dressings that will not harm the paint, but they only mask the squealing symptoms temporarily - the belt rubber is still hard and glazed and slipping on the pulleys. Go buy a new belt and put it on, it is not hard at all and only requires a few basic hand tools.

If you aren't sure how the new belt goes on, take a picture before you remove the old belt. And you can almost always change the belt without removing anything else on the car, you just have to thread it around through the radiator fan blades and work it around the radiator fan shroud. Figure out how to thread it through when removing the old belt, and do the opposite with the new one...

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

Cant even buy DOT3 anymore can you? My cars been running Dot5.1 for ages now. Still strips paint :)

As for belt condition/pulley/follower - I've got a slightly squeeky alternator bearing, but it spins freely, the main tensioner pulley is freely rotating, the belt is tensioned to the point that it wont turn

90 degrees in its largest span, theres no glazing on the belt so im guessing im down to grit in it. Possible as i use the car on the beach at weekends, albeit slowly, usually in high winds. Cant see any grit in it but theres another 30$ wasted on a new belt. J
Reply to
Coyoteboy

I stuck that DOT-3 detail in there just in case someone tried to bring up 'But the DOT-5 Silicone based fluid doesn't hurt the paint!' I have no idea if DOT-5 does or does not strip paint, but I'm sure not experimenting on my car...

DOT-3 brake fluid is still factory fill for a lot of things - and it's going to get used as a top-off fluid for many years to come, by lots of people who don't read the label on the master cylinder, unless they totally stop selling it.

Dumb People will buy on price alone, even though it's the wrong stuff for their car.

Same reason why they changed the fill fittings on R-134 AC systems and put filler-neck restrictors on Unleaded cars, to make it harder for some boob to fill the system with the wrong stuff. Harder, but not impossible. ;-)

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

A sandy beach is a tough environment. You need more frequent oil changes, air filter changes, transmission and differential fluid changes, and the sand is tough on any exposed seals and bearings.

Reply to
Ray O

I guess you are right, at least technically. Here is what the MSDS for WD-40 claims:

Aliphatic Petroleum Distillates - 8052-41-3 - 45-50% Petroleum Base Oil - 64742-65-0 - 30-35% LVP Hydrocarbon Fluid - 64742-47-8 - 12-18%

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

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