Alternator squeak

[numatik]

JUST KIDDING problem not solved.... AC squeak was not ac, it started squeaking aweful just as before without the ac clutch even spinning..... WTF?? Well I have a major surgery in the morning and im not sure how long of a recovery I have until i can even chase after this problem any more, but i will check it it when im able too.... I hope somebody has something else i missed or forgot, otherwise i HATE to say this i may send it to a shop, the only time iv ever had to send a vehicle to the shop was for a blown transmission.... ugggggggh not what i wanted to find the night before my surgery

[fox_racin4]

Didnt read threw whole thread, but i had a NASTYYY squeak and turned out to be a dirty belt, can you try changing belts? Try spraying some soapy water on the belt as its running, do the ribbed section first then the flat (outside) section if the squeak stops its your belt!!

[lagexe]

i think it means bearing are going out. if the alt is old or have cheap bearings.

this

also does it have a belt tensioner thats adjustable or a spring loaded tensioner? i was asking because if you tighten your belt too much you can wear out the bearings in the alt quick causing that fimiliar sqeak.

good luck

Not just the alt bearings. When I first replaced my alt, I thought "Tighter has to be better", which is not true. After I had to replace my alt I shortly after has to replace a water-pump, and idling pulley. The parts were semi-cheap but it was the most frustrating repair EVER! loosen that belt a bit and you'll be smiling more, I promise .

[numatik]

Didnt read threw whole thread, but i had a NASTYYY squeak and turned out to be a dirty belt, can you try changing belts? Try spraying some soapy water on the belt as its running, do the ribbed section first then the flat (outside) section if the squeak stops its your belt!!

I tried spraying just a dab of WD40 on the top of the belt and it did nothing This is sooo irritating its so damn hard to figure this out!!!

i think it means bearing are going out. if the alt is old or have cheap bearings.

this

also does it have a belt tensioner thats adjustable or a spring loaded tensioner? i was asking because if you tighten your belt too much you can wear out the bearings in the alt quick causing that fimiliar sqeak.

good luck

The tensioner is spring loaded, and I actually tried it with 2 different tensioners from different auto parts stores just to try, and replaced the idler pulley again too and it didnt solve it, so I returned both. I have the stock tensioner in it now and its acting exactly the same as the other tensioners. BUT the factory tensioner definitely looser, I noticed that right away. But when I got the truck and heard the squeak I changed the main components first and couldnt get rid of it.... bahhh help!! any more ideas??

Not just the alt bearings. When I first replaced my alt, I thought "Tighter has to be better", which is not true. After I had to replace my alt I shortly after has to replace a water-pump, and idling pulley. The parts were semi-cheap but it was the most frustrating repair EVER! loosen that belt a bit and you'll be smiling more, I promise .

Thats what I started thinking when I put the factory tensioner back in cause it was def looser. The belt I replaced it with was the exact one in the computer at oreileys. the belt does have a little bit of play, more then the aftermarket tensioners, but if it was looser then it is now I dont think it would grab.

Im wondering if its another component making it squeak, on another forum somebody had similar symptoms and it was a loose bolt on the cat. I havnt checked that yet. It could be the water pump, I dont think its the power steering pump.

The weirdest thing is when I drive off (squeaking all the way) and I get on a main road, I floor it and when the truck shifts it goes away... Could this mean its something else? I dont know!!

[kickass audio]

spraying wd40 on the belt is very bad to do. plus it wont help you alleviate the problem if your alt was squeaking. the alt has the ribbed pulley and so do most of the other parts on your belts accessory drive belt system. If you sprayed the wd-40 on the flat (back) of the belt it will not help if you have something like the alternator, a.c., crank pulley, power steering, etc that use the ribbed part of the belt to spin them. Also another reason you never want to spray the belt is that it will cause belt slip and will also allow it to not have enough grip on your pulley's so that instead of having as much pressure and power transferred from the belt to your pulley it is lost. Think of it like opening a jar. If you cant open it by hand try to put some lotion on your hands and open it. It will never work. lol. Same thing with your belt. If it doesnt have a good grip when its clean then greasing it up will make it worse. Some people use what is called as belt dressing for their belt. This will help prevent belt squeaking but what it does is allow the belt to glide over the pulley instead of dragging across the pulley that is causing the belt to slow down and cause the squeak. The belt dressing is just like your wd-40 trick and it makes a mess on your pulley's and anywhere else around your belt drive system.

What id strongly recommend would be to get a new belt (i go to advance automotive and buy one and like every 6 months get a new one under warranty for free just to have a nice and new belt) and get brake part cleaner spray and a clean rag. Spray the brake part cleaner on the rag in a small amount and then wipe the pulley's all clean with it. Continue to spray the rag and wipe the pulley's individually until you wipe them so that there is no residue that comes off the pulley. Please note: you do not want to spray the brake part cleaner on your belt or on the pulley. The brake part cleaner will eat rubber away and get rid of any oils/grease that it comes into contact with and can even ruin plastic if it comes into contact with it. So if you spray it on your pulley instead of the rag then wiping the pulley you can get overspray to seep down into the bearings of the pulley and dry up the oils that are contained in the bearings and make it squeak even worse.

One final recommendation i have for you is to get a small hose or even a listening device to help detect what pulley is bad. IDR the correct name for them but they are just like a stethoscope but with a long attachment for you to listen to things with. Carefully put the probe on your pulley and listen to the noise. If it sounds like it is grinding then your bearing is worn out, if it sounds fine then the bearing is not worn out. You will not be able to detect any chirping through this though but heres a way to find that out. If after testing the pulleys with your stethoscope you cannot hear any of the bearings grinding get a small rubber line similar to a radiator hose. Hold your ear to one side of the hose and then move the hose around pulley by pulley to help centralize where the noise is coming from. Again be careful to not get your hand caught in the fan or belt when doing these tests.

[numatik]

spraying wd40 on the belt is very bad to do. plus it wont help you alleviate the problem if your alt was squeaking. the alt has the ribbed pulley and so do most of the other parts on your belts accessory drive belt system. If you sprayed the wd-40 on the flat (back) of the belt it will not help if you have something like the alternator, a.c., crank pulley, power steering, etc that use the ribbed part of the belt to spin them. Also another reason you never want to spray the belt is that it will cause belt slip and will also allow it to not have enough grip on your pulley's so that instead of having as much pressure and power transferred from the belt to your pulley it is lost. Think of it like opening a jar. If you cant open it by hand try to put some lotion on your hands and open it. It will never work. lol. Same thing with your belt. If it doesnt have a good grip when its clean then greasing it up will make it worse. Some people use what is called as belt dressing for their belt. This will help prevent belt squeaking but what it does is allow the belt to glide over the pulley instead of dragging across the pulley that is causing the belt to slow down and cause the squeak. The belt dressing is just like your wd-40 trick and it makes a mess on your pulley's and anywhere else around your belt drive system.

What id strongly recommend would be to get a new belt (i go to advance automotive and buy one and like every 6 months get a new one under warranty for free just to have a nice and new belt) and get brake part cleaner spray and a clean rag. Spray the brake part cleaner on the rag in a small amount and then wipe the pulley's all clean with it. Continue to spray the rag and wipe the pulley's individually until you wipe them so that there is no residue that comes off the pulley. Please note: you do not want to spray the brake part cleaner on your belt or on the pulley. The brake part cleaner will eat rubber away and get rid of any oils/grease that it comes into contact with and can even ruin plastic if it comes into contact with it. So if you spray it on your pulley instead of the rag then wiping the pulley you can get overspray to seep down into the bearings of the pulley and dry up the oils that are contained in the bearings and make it squeak even worse.

One final recommendation i have for you is to get a small hose or even a listening device to help detect what pulley is bad. IDR the correct name for them but they are just like a stethoscope but with a long attachment for you to listen to things with. Carefully put the probe on your pulley and listen to the noise. If it sounds like it is grinding then your bearing is worn out, if it sounds fine then the bearing is not worn out. You will not be able to detect any chirping through this though but heres a way to find that out. If after testing the pulleys with your stethoscope you cannot hear any of the bearings grinding get a small rubber line similar to a radiator hose. Hold your ear to one side of the hose and then move the hose around pulley by pulley to help centralize where the noise is coming from. Again be careful to not get your hand caught in the fan or belt when doing these tests.

WOW Thanks for the long response!! I never thought of that theory with a jar, but it makes perfect sense. Luckily I only sprayed for like a centimeter second so not that much got on. Since then I did wipe it clean, (there was like nothing on the belt). When I got my alt back, the shop had cleaned the pulley completly clean. First tho what we noticed is that it appeared the belt was slipping at the alt, because i would fire up the truck for 5 seconds, run under the hood and touch the pulley for a split second and it was hot as fuck so we figured the friction of it slipping made it hot.

Im gonna try the garden hose trick, but even sticking my head in the engine compartment i couldnt tell at all where it was comiong from. Im just confused, cause I think its slipping on the alt but dont know why, or another pulley is squeaking.

I never thought it would be so hard to find a squeak! What do you think about the alt slip theory and a different pulley?

[kickass audio]

You dont want something long like a garden hose, just some tubing like a radiator hose or even a cheap plastic hose that you use to connect the pumps and filter together on an pool filter. Belt slip will cause the pulley to get hot. If you have a brass pulley you will know it has belt slip when the brass starts to have a tarnished look on it but it feels smoothe to the touch. Instead of looking like fresh brass it will have green and red areas on it. Thats the spot where it is slipping the most and is getting a ton of friction on it. Also belt slip typically happens when you place a large load on your stuff. For example if you turn your wheel sharply your power steering pump will have more strain than if you leave the wheel straight. With your alternator if you have it experiencing a high load such as having your system on at full tilt your alternator will need more force to get that rotor to spin and produce the power. Think of it like you driving along at a constant speed and all of a sudden i attach my truck to your vehicle. As soon as i latch on your vehicle you will have a sudden decrease in power and speed so to compensate for that you need to speed back up. Well for your pulley's it also happens there but when they have different loads per pulley it causes uneven slip because one pulley may have a high load where another may not have much of a load.

Id replace the belt first and clean up ALL the pulleys BEFORE you install the new belt on it. Also one thing you can do to inspect belt slippage is to look for any black residue around your engine. If you have belt slip it will look just like the rubber laying in a burnout pit but the rubber will be stuck to the engine and anything else it comes into contact with. I had this on my truck because my idler pulley is taking a shit on me and needs to be replaced very soon.

[numatik]

You dont want something long like a garden hose, just some tubing like a radiator hose or even a cheap plastic hose that you use to connect the pumps and filter together on an pool filter. Belt slip will cause the pulley to get hot. If you have a brass pulley you will know it has belt slip when the brass starts to have a tarnished look on it but it feels smoothe to the touch. Instead of looking like fresh brass it will have green and red areas on it. Thats the spot where it is slipping the most and is getting a ton of friction on it. Also belt slip typically happens when you place a large load on your stuff. For example if you turn your wheel sharply your power steering pump will have more strain than if you leave the wheel straight. With your alternator if you have it experiencing a high load such as having your system on at full tilt your alternator will need more force to get that rotor to spin and produce the power. Think of it like you driving along at a constant speed and all of a sudden i attach my truck to your vehicle. As soon as i latch on your vehicle you will have a sudden decrease in power and speed so to compensate for that you need to speed back up. Well for your pulley's it also happens there but when they have different loads per pulley it causes uneven slip because one pulley may have a high load where another may not have much of a load.

Id replace the belt first and clean up ALL the pulleys BEFORE you install the new belt on it. Also one thing you can do to inspect belt slippage is to look for any black residue around your engine. If you have belt slip it will look just like the rubber laying in a burnout pit but the rubber will be stuck to the engine and anything else it comes into contact with. I had this on my truck because my idler pulley is taking a shit on me and needs to be replaced very soon.

I wasnt clear, I knew it wasnt a long garden hose I was just referring to the type of tube to use. The alt does have a brass pulley, but the color is normal, and there is no residue at all in the grooves of the pulley (it was cleaned at the alt shop). If I turn on my truck with the compressors off and the beat completely off it still squeaks just as crazy. The only thing that makes the squeak go away is when I drive of really fast and the truck shifts up, then its gone... BUT when I park for a little while it usually comes back, but not quite as bad as when the truck is cold.

What you said about the power steering pump makes sense, but even when I start the truck before I even turn the wheel its squeaking. Also I have 2 kinetik 1400s under the bed, and that alt keeps them charged no problem. The truck is also a daily so over night those batteries dont lose much voltage at all for that alt to be working 10x harder then it should...

I replaced the belt a while ago, you think I should try again with a different belt? I have been chasing this squeak since I got the truck, thats when I first replaced the belt, tensioner, and idler pulley. Is there a special kind of belt that may grab harder or something? I havnt seen any residue under the hood either. I still dont feel like I know whats wrong, from my own detective work Im pretty sure its slipping but I dont understand why, because it dosnt have that big of a load on it... I dont know how to fix this... I do really appreciate your responses and helping me try and fix this

[kickass audio]

For the belt you replaced did it have anything printed on the flat side of the belt? Most manufacturers stamp their sku, brand, model, etc on the flat side of the belt for identification purposes. If that looks like it is smudged off or faded then that part of the belt is getting slip. Also look at the belt for any areas on the flat side that appear to have like bumps. Its hard to explain it but my envoy i believe has a bad tensioner starting and i know my idler pulley is shot. When you have your truck on does your pulley appear to be moving with the belt? Try to get a helper and turn the engine on and look at the pulley. Have your helper turn on the a/c full blast and when the clutch for the a/c engages you should see the tensioner bounce a little bit because of the quick stress introduced onto the belt drive system to engage the compressor. If the belt's tensioner doesnt appear to be bouncing and stays pretty stationary when no loads are introduced then the tensioner is fine. If your tensioner is bobbing up and down with constant loads then your tensioner is shot. It can be a lot of different things causing the squeak. Id try to isolate it with the hose trick first and see if you can locate where in the belt drive system the squeak is occurring. It could be moisture on the belt causing it to slip, bad bearing on a pulley, bad tensioner, anything.

[numatik]

For the belt you replaced did it have anything printed on the flat side of the belt? Most manufacturers stamp their sku, brand, model, etc on the flat side of the belt for identification purposes. If that looks like it is smudged off or faded then that part of the belt is getting slip. Also look at the belt for any areas on the flat side that appear to have like bumps. Its hard to explain it but my envoy i believe has a bad tensioner starting and i know my idler pulley is shot. When you have your truck on does your pulley appear to be moving with the belt? Try to get a helper and turn the engine on and look at the pulley. Have your helper turn on the a/c full blast and when the clutch for the a/c engages you should see the tensioner bounce a little bit because of the quick stress introduced onto the belt drive system to engage the compressor. If the belt's tensioner doesnt appear to be bouncing and stays pretty stationary when no loads are introduced then the tensioner is fine. If your tensioner is bobbing up and down with constant loads then your tensioner is shot. It can be a lot of different things causing the squeak. Id try to isolate it with the hose trick first and see if you can locate where in the belt drive system the squeak is occurring. It could be moisture on the belt causing it to slip, bad bearing on a pulley, bad tensioner, anything.

Thanks for the response! My belt is a dayco, and the name is still very clear on the belt. What do you mean like bumps? Like physically on the belt? My belt is completely smooth except for the bottom that has the grooves to grab the pulleys. I tried two different tensioners just to double check, and both were much stiffer then the factory one. The factory one is looser tho, and does bounce around a little bit even at idle, so I'm definitely gonna keep that 2nd tensioner now, thanks man!

The A/c clutch was the first suspect cause we heard a squeak that sounded like it came from there, but after turning off the AC and that clutch wasnt moving at all still squeaked. Im gonna try the hose trick once I recover more from my big surgery I had 3 days ago, but all I can think of thats left is the water pump/fan pulley and power steering pump. BUT with the power steering, when I fire up the truck with the wheels perfectly straight, it squeaks, and when I turn the wheel the sound dosnt change, so I think thats ruled out

I do have another question abou the water pump/fan pulley, I checked napa, kragen, and autozone and nobody sells just that pulley that could be the squeak. If I pull it and the bearings are shot, hopefully I can find them at napa because they carry several bearings sorted by the number stamped right on them. I hope they have the bearings (if thats the problem)