Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Squeeling front right front of engine

[DLBurns]

OK fellas, I have a bad ( and getting worse ) squeel coming from the right front of the engine. I bought one of those cheap stethescopes at Napa and listened on the AC Compressor, Idler tendsioner pulley, Water Pump, Fan and alternator..... I can not determine where the noise is coming from???

I changed my OEM belt out this morning with a new Gatorback that I kept as a spare and took off the tensioner to check it ( this is a newer pulley from Practical Solutions ), everything is good there. I turned all of the pulleys by hand and they all seem smooth with no binding or noise!

Took the truck for a drive and the noise is worse than ever!! The funny thing is that it only squeels when I am accelerating, at idle it doesn't squeel with the new belt. ( it did with the old one )

I am running out of places to look and being that I am on vacation in Seaside Oregon and leaving here on the 19th to spend a week in Newport I am concerned about making the drive towing my fiver with this squeel issue.

Any good diesel techs in this area?

Any help or suggetions would sure be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Dave

 

[Graphic man]

did you listen with the belt on and motor running?

does it sound like a belt squeal?

try getting some belt dressing from NAPA and try that

if there is a light grinding noise that could be a bearing going in the alt.



Hope this helps a little!!



Scott

 

[DLBurns]

did you listen with the belt on and motor running?

does it sound like a belt squeal?

try getting some belt dressing from NAPA and try that

if there is a light grinding noise that could be a bearing going in the alt.



Hope this helps a little!!



Scott

I listened with the belt on and motor running and it is definately a squeel for lack of a better term. At idle is does not make the noise, but when you give it throttle it starts to squeel LOUDLY!!

I can't seem to pinpoint it with my stethescope.

The Gatorback belt that I put on is brand new so it shouldn't need any belt dressing.

Thanks for the ideas Scott

Dave

 

[Graphic man]

Dave,

this may sound stupid but check the part # if the belt is a little longer it could cause your problem

it sounds like to me that it is a belt squeal and some belt dressing should fix it

I hope your trip goes well!!!!



Scott

 

[FourBarR]

with the engine stopped , spray some water on the belt start it up see if the noise goes away. if so its the belt. I go along with the idea of checking the belt length, if its to long its going to slip. did you spin the alternator? a rough bearing should be able to be felt. how about the water pump? is there anything coming out the weep hole in the bottom. you need a mirror to see it. thats all I can think of now. best of luck.

 

[DLBurns]

Maybe a fix!

The OEM belt was the one that started squeeling, and the noise got worse when I put on the Gatorback. I got my cheap stethescope onto the torx bolt that holds the tensioner pulley on and can hear the squeel coming through there. This is the only place I can hear it with the stethescope.

I sprayed a little penetrating oil on the back of the pulley at the bearing and it quited right down, sooooo I went to Napa to see if they had another pulley, they only sell the entire assembly so being that I am stuck I had to get it. I have the Practical Solutions pulley on there now, didn't think I would have this problem with it! I bet I only have 10K miles on it!

The Napa pulley assembly will be here tomorrow so I hope that this cures my problem!

Thanks for the suggestions guys I appreciate your help.

Dave

 

[GiesJ]

Dlburns - did the napa pulley fix your problem?

 

[Joe Mc]

Kind of scary but, with the engine not running (off) put an extension on a 1/2" drive breaker bar and insert into the square hole on the tensioner - make sure it's not going to hit anything - then have someone start the engine. If the belt can be made to squeal at off idle rpm then have person in cab increase rpm until the squeal begins then put a bit of force to "tension" the belt, if the squeal stops chances are it's the belt. If not then take off the belt and rotate everything by hand checking for smoothness of rotation or noise. I had an alternator squeal that drove me absolutly nuts until I replaced it. Good luck.

 

[DLBurns]

Dlburns - did the napa pulley fix your problem?

I returned the Napa pulley as it was a POS.

After the weather dried out my belt quit sqeeling. This past winter it started up again and I just bought a new OEM tensioner assembly from Dodge. Guess what... it still chirps every now and then

I may have a bearing going south that I just cannot pinpoint with my cheap listening device.

 

[Me808garam]

Sounds like the tensioner went south... . My thoughts aloha Ron

 

[cojhl2]

Maybe I can learn something here,, because I don't understand my problem which sounds exactly like this one.



I had a fairly new belt (approx 20k miles) but installed a new one when I replacted tensioner. The new belt was one groove wider than the one I replaced. (I always wondered why the 20k one was one groove narrow) (I don't remember about the one before that)



Anyway after about 4k miles the belt started to squel bad. I too used a stehoscope to find problem and concluded it was the belt. (Soaped it as it was idling and sure enough)



Now I guess my most troubling question(s) is/are why two differnet belt widths? They were both purchased from NAPA. The wider of the two also seems like a heavier beltus The part numbers are the same.



How do you determine if a pulley is worn out allowing a slip on one specific pulley?



For that matter how do you determine what pulley on which it's slipping? I don't think it would be slipping on all of them at the same time.



Which belt isw really correct?



BTW, the reason I replaced the tensioner is because the pivot point was worn allowing the belt to rub on the arm.



Any further discussion on this thread will help me!!!



I