Front squeaking noise on cold start........

[Johnny_5]

Originally Posted by StephenVA

+1 on the belts. A quick Visual Check will show wear and cracking. Easy replacement.

Well thats the thing when I had everything all off during the water pump replacement all the belts looked fine. No visual war or cracks. The belts looked like they were already replaced by the previous owner not to long ago. Thats why I left those alone. But prior to the pump failing on me i had no problems with any noise other than the pump itself when it failed.

[StephenVA]

when you first fire it up and the squeak is present, spray the belts (one at a time) with water and see which one changes the noise. It really might be a pulley bushing going south.

[Johnny_5]

Originally Posted by StephenVA

when you first fire it up and the squeak is present, spray the belts (one at a time) with water and see which one changes the noise. It really might be a pulley bushing going south.

Yea Ive been meaning to do that but been so busy this past weekend. Ill try to get to it later today. When you state pulley bushing going south what do you mean?

[StephenVA]

Sorry, way too many colloquial words.

As the bushings wear out, they start to make noise as the materials that the pulleys ride on shear. Most of these have no real bushing just the aluminum shafts the steel/aluminum (alloy) pulley spins on. So the wear can be way too fast as compared to age or they last FOREVER. A shot of WD-40 or any brand of lube/penetrating oil will stop the noise dead for 1-30 days until it washes out. Once you take the tension off the pulley by removing the belt, the offending pulley usually shows up as the one you can wiggle on its shaft. This play causes the pulley to dig into the shaft accelerating the noise and wear.

Replacement of the offending part(s) is the only cure....

[Johnny_5]

Originally Posted by StephenVA

Sorry, way too many colloquial words.

As the bushings wear out, they start to make noise as the materials that the pulleys ride on shear. Most of these have no real bushing just the aluminum shafts the steel/aluminum (alloy) pulley spins on. So the wear can be way too fast as compared to age or they last FOREVER. A shot of WD-40 or any brand of lube/penetrating oil will stop the noise dead for 1-30 days until it washes out. Once you take the tension off the pulley by removing the belt, the offending pulley usually shows up as the one you can wiggle on its shaft. This play causes the pulley to dig into the shaft accelerating the noise and wear.

Replacement of the offending part(s) is the only cure....

Well heres the problem...both deflector and tensioner on that side of the main belt have been replaced. Those are the only Pulleys other than the water pump, power steering and alternator itself. So I dont think its the pulley's themselves.

[David.X5]

Originally Posted by Johnny_5

Really? Is it on the actual tensioner itself? I have the old one still so i can look on there or are you referring to when you tighten it onto the car you can move the tensioner in one direction or the other???

Not on the tensioner, but the mounting bolts that hold it to the front of the engine. One position on each tensioner is slotted.

If you weren't aware of it, it is really likely one or both is too loose. It is a 5 minute fix. Take the fan off to get space, remove the belts, then loosen the mounting bolts a half turn or a whole turn. Observe the motion and set it to load the spring loaded pulley more. Might take a couple of tries. Tighten the mounting bolts, install belt, fan and I suspect your noise will be gone.

[blackbeast]

Originally Posted by David.X5

Not on the tensioner, but the mounting bolts that hold it to the front of the engine. One position on each tensioner is slotted.

If you weren't aware of it, it is really likely one or both is too loose. It is a 5 minute fix. Take the fan off to get space, remove the belts, then loosen the mounting bolts a half turn or a whole turn. Observe the motion and set it to load the spring loaded pulley more. Might take a couple of tries. Tighten the mounting bolts, install belt, fan and I suspect your noise will be gone.

Interesting. I didn't know this, I wonder if that's the cause of my cold squeak too. I took off the tensioner when I replaced my alternator so i'm suspecting mine was put back on "loose". Thanks for the info!

[Johnny_5]

Originally Posted by David.X5

Not on the tensioner, but the mounting bolts that hold it to the front of the engine. One position on each tensioner is slotted.

If you weren't aware of it, it is really likely one or both is too loose. It is a 5 minute fix. Take the fan off to get space, remove the belts, then loosen the mounting bolts a half turn or a whole turn. Observe the motion and set it to load the spring loaded pulley more. Might take a couple of tries. Tighten the mounting bolts, install belt, fan and I suspect your noise will be gone.

Interesting....when putting this on I didn't even notice anything like that. Will take a look at it this weekend.