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1994 Wrangler belt squeak. What do i do?

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belt squeal
8K views 22 replies 6 participants last post by  DREDnot 
#1 ·
i have a 94 wrangler with a 2.5L I4 engine. it started to squeal when i would go down the road. i tightened the belt. I put a new belt on it and it stopped for about a day. but then when the jeep is cold and you try to start it, it will squeal for about 5 to 10 seconds. then it will stop. I put a new idler pulley on yesterday and it still squeals. At this point idk what to do. Any ideas on what it is? Btw it has no A/C but it has power steering.
 
#2 ·
I have the same issue at start up on a 95 2.5 and will post results if I can find it. On the last vehicle I tighened the belt to much and took out the water pump bearing 900 miles from home on a road trip. That was not nice. Trying to avoid that on the Jeep and I wonder if the alternator can squeel and how to find it.
 
#4 ·
So I was having the same problem and I saw 2 of the idler pulleys I have are bad. There is a little play in them and I think that might be a problem along with an old belt.
I had replaced the pulleys couple of years back and with less than 20k miles they are bad again. I'm planning to replace them again and for 2 metal ones planning to swap the bearing with a high quality bearing.
Check if the idler pulleys you have are in good shape.
 
#6 ·
You'd need to take the belt off, autozone and advance auto have loaner tool for that. And inspect each pulley to see if they have any side to side or top to bottom play. Your belt could be worn out/old too. Look for cracks in the rubber. I can take a pic later and show what a bad belt would look like. Or you could just google.
 
#7 ·
Another source of belt squeal is actually the fan clutch.

You need to clean all the "belt greaser" crap off the belt and all the pulleys. Check for any worn/ wobbly pulleys. Then reinstall belt. Tight. It needs to be so tight that you cant twist the belt 90 degrees.
 
#9 ·
I checked the pulleys with the belt on
You cant check the pulleys or clean them or the belt with the belt on. 90 percent of all belt squeal threads end up useless because the OP is (unwilling) to remove the belt.

Take it off. Scrub both sides with a bristle brush and detergent and water. Finish by wiping the smooth side clean with alcohol. Do the same to each pulley and idler. While cleaning, take note of any loose, wobbly, bent, or grooved/ worn pulleys.

Once you get that done, tighten the belt properly. Much tighter compared to v belts. The "less than 90 degree twist" is a good place to start
 
#12 ·
... what if it does still squeak?
It wont.
You said the belt is new, correct?

Ive been fixing squawking serpentine belts since 1987 and over all those years these steps have never failed me. Ive run across a dozen causes, but most times its dusty/oily/grimy belts that are not tight enough. That contamination gets transfered to all the pulleys and will start to wear grooves or deposit rubber on the contact areas that need to be detail cleaned. Otherwise a new belt will start to squawk immediately.
 
#14 ·
DREDnot.. you said there was a pulley tool to check to see if the pulleys are bad?
No, that tool is to remove the ps or alt pulleys. You would only need that if those two pulleys are getting replaced. Once the belt is off, you can pretty much eyeball the pulleys and spin them by hand. Looking for any defects, dents, out of round, wobble, out of flat, worn grooves, stuff like that. And rock them up and down, spin them, Looking for bad bearings.

Idler/tensioners tend to go first.

Clean and scrub everything. Like if you had to eat off it.

That should fix you up.
 
#17 ·
They main thing to remember is to be very thorough. Squawking belts start to deposit melted rubber and dirt down deep in the grooves and along the edges of the grooves. Ive had to scrape at it with razor blades and finish with a toothbrush sized wire brush and alcohol.

Same with the belt. Scrub grooves, edges and the flat side really good with stiff bristle brush, scotchbrite, and wipe down with alcohol.
 
#18 ·
Dont forget to check your fan clutch/ water pump for wobbles, looseness/freewheeling , and leaking clutch fluid and coolant at the waterpump weep hole.

These will also cause beltlike squeaks
 
#21 ·
I found that the PS pulley had melted or shredded rubber in it from the old belt. Well a friend and I got a brush and we scrubbed that thing for near an hour. This thing looked completely different after we cleaned it. So we put the belt on and tightened it properly. Turned the key over. No squeak. No squeal. Not even a chirp. Thanks guys
 
#23 ·
Well you had it for a bit. Its probably a rogue bit of grime that has migrated and found a home. Or you have an active leak re depositing mung on there. Since it was quiet for a little bit, reclean it all and use some scotchbrite this time. Then scrub thr belt real hard with the scotchbrite and alcohol. Both sides. Then wipe clean again.

Make sure there isnt any power steering fluid or anti freeze blowing around under the hood.
 
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