Ned Flanders Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 OK, we're just getting into the cold weather here and this morning when I started the car, a belt started squeaking. It went away as the car idled a little more. I can't pin the squeak down, but the belts and tensioner were replaced last summer. Does something need to be tightened up? Everything seems to be on OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mra32 Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 maybe the alternator bearings are worn and once they warm up, the squeaking goes away? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted January 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 God only knows in cold weather! I'm fixing my coolant leak later this week, so the squeak's going to have to wait. The car just hit the 150,000 mark and it's due for some distress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 The belt is just cold and dry. Spray some silicon on it or something of the sort and itll go away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted January 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 I'll try that tonight! Damn cold weather... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian P Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 make sure none of the pulleys (alt, PS, WP, AC) have any contaminants on them, such as oil or coolant. It would help to pinpoint which one is causing the fuss by looking or listening with one of those automotive stethoscopes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted January 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 make sure none of the pulleys (alt, PS, WP, AC) have any contaminants on them, such as oil or coolant. It would help to pinpoint which one is causing the fuss by looking or listening with one of those automotive stethoscopes. I'll check. I like your avatar BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian P Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 I like Ned Flanders!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 My dad's Malibu had a bad squeaking on cold starts, replaced the tensioner and it went away. Then it came back and the battery light went on, so I replaced the alternator and belt. The noise got worse and I couldn't figure it out. Sprayed it with silicone, it would stop squeaking for about two times around, then back as loud as it was before. Turned out to be a bad new belt...put the old belt back on and life was good. Go figure... So I replaced the old belt again with a GM belt this time, and problem solved permanently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w-bodys_are_the_best Posted January 16, 2009 Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 On my park avenue when I started it yesterday (-25) I had the hood open and for the first 30 seconds to 1 minute the accessory's barely turned. They finally got up to speed, by this time the belt had a small amount of smoke from the crank pulley, and I could smell burning belt. The belt is new, my cavalier does also squeal when it gets this cold and that belt is about 4 months old. I was wondering if de-greaser wil deteriorate a rubber belt like that, I may have coolant, and ps fluid residue on my PA's belt. I recently did the coolant elbow and PS pump. I thought about spraying it clean with de-greaser, didn't seem to hurt it when I replace the PS pump and cleaned everything up, but I tried to get as little as possible on the belt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted January 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 On my park avenue when I started it yesterday (-25) I had the hood open and for the first 30 seconds to 1 minute the accessory's barely turned. They finally got up to speed' date=' by this time the belt had a small amount of smoke from the crank pulley, and I could smell burning belt. The belt is new, my cavalier does also squeal when it gets this cold and that belt is about 4 months old. [b']I was wondering if de-greaser wil deteriorate a rubber belt like that[/b], I may have coolant, and ps fluid residue on my PA's belt. I recently did the coolant elbow and PS pump. I thought about spraying it clean with de-greaser, didn't seem to hurt it when I replace the PS pump and cleaned everything up, but I tried to get as little as possible on the belt. I don't think coolant will. I dumped it all over my old bellts and still got 3 years + use on them, with heavy driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w-bodys_are_the_best Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 Yeah it didn't do it yesterday on a -25 windchill day, but the other day when it did this, it was -25 actual temperature, and somewhere between -45 and -50 windchill at about 5 am when I started it, it actually didn't start, I had to jump it with the cavalier, which started after sitting in the same spot for a month, so I was out in the -45 wind swapping the interstate battery from the Z24 to the Buick since it's my DD. How cold was it when it did this? I know last winter my cav did the same thing when it was about -30 windchill the belt squealed like crazy till whatever let loose. I think the accessory that causes the biggest problem on those really cold days is the power steering pump. The buick has a brand new PS pump and all new fluid, I'd imagine at -45 it's really thick and hard to get pumping, same thing wth the cav, not a new pump, but it had a new line and of course new fluid the fall before last winter when it did this several times. I think though if your car did this at a warmer temp, say 10-35 above zero, I'd say one of your accessories has a bad bearing like someone said above, but when it's this damn cold they'll do crazy crap. When I start our 99 Grand Voyager when it's that cold, it sounds like a jet engine sucking in air through the intake for the first 30 seconds to 1 minute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted January 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 It was about 25, which is crazy cold here. Today is was colder, and the belt didn't make any noise at all. I'm just going to keep an eye on it. Like I said, the belt and tensioner are only a few months old, but you never know what kind of crap parts you'll get sometimes. -35 degrees blows my mind. I changed out a bad hose today in an unheated garage and was just glad to have shelter from the wind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w-bodys_are_the_best Posted January 18, 2009 Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 Yeah, my 94 CS w/3100 had a new tensioner put on it and less than a month or two later it was rattling and squeaking (not squealing) it was replaced for free under warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted January 18, 2009 Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 Is the bolt tight on the tensioner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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