I have an 01 lightning I just got it back on the road and the accessories belt squeals like crazy when first started up. I took the ac off the belt is brand new I just put new pulleys on it. I went down to a 7 rib belt that fits good and snug. All the pulleys are all smooth. The belt keeps speaking and makin me frustrated. Any ideas I tried moving down on belt size and didn't work. Is there another tension that you are suppose to use when deleting the ac

 

Recheck the belt routing and check the tensioner itself. They can get a weak spot where they lose tension or freezeup only in a small area/range. Sometimes the alternator is the problem. They installed alternators with a clutch pulley on some police and mustangs to eliminate the squeal. Good luck

 

i just went out and got a new tensioner hopefully thats stops it. nothing worse than starting up the truck and hearing it squeal down the road. im going to put it on tomorrow ill if that doesnt work i guess the alternator pulley?

 

ok got the tensioner on today with a new 7 rib belt instead of 8 ribs. Now when i first start it up it sqeals really bad than after 10 seconds it goes away. doesnt sqeal when driving i drove it around for about 15 mins. i took it home turned it off than turned it back on and i sqealed again on start up for 10 secs. i have new idler pulleys on the accessory with no A/C. i scuffed up the smooth pulleys as well. any idea could it be the alternator or water pump pulley if so how would i check that

 

It is possible to get the belt routed wrong. Check all the pulleys to make sure they turn free and are not touching the front cover. Powersteering fluid topped off?

 

the belt it routed the right way all the pulleys turn freely and they dont wobble. Power Steering fluid alittle low just added some should that make a difference. i skuffed all the smooth pulleys and water pump pulley. i am also using one rib smaller so its not rubbing on the sides.

 

bump....

still have the squeal when i first turn on when cold. I used a gatorback belt 7rib belt and when i first turned the truck on it sounds like crap than after about a min it stops even with the fan on. When i pull into a gas station and turn it off and turn it back on it squeaks crazy again for about 1 min. Now i have an 8 rib belt that squeaks when i first turn on and than goes off but when i turn the fan on it squeaks. I have all new pulleys and tensioner s on the accessory belt with no a/c. I replaced the alternator also there is some build up of rubber coming off the belt around the alternator. the belt is free and clear of everything. have no idea why its doing this and have had a bunch of people look at it and they are stumped too.

 

you sure it isn't coming off of the supercharger belt system.

I went through the same scenario as you a few months back. Turned out that I had worn a groove into the water pump pulley probably 1/8th of an inch thick all the way around. Pretty crazy, I have the pulley on a nail in the garage.

 

What brand of belts are you using? The same brand on both the 7 groove and the 8 groove? Believe it or not, I have had certain brands of belts that were problematic as far as noises. I once used a pair of PB belts made by Gates that literally made a knock like a rod knock (you would swear it was a rod knocking) for a while after I started the car (many years ago, conventional grooved belt) and drove me crazy till I laid down under the car one morning after I started it. The noise from under the front sounded like it was coming from the crank pulley. Shot a little WD-40 on it and was instantly gone. It would come back after a couple of days so I changed brands of belts and had no more problem. About 8 mo. later I was outside at work when one of the co-workers started his car- and I heard the exact same sound. I asked if he'd changed belts lately and he said yes. I asked what brand and he said PB. I told him to take 'em back, he did and used a different brand and the noise was gone. The V-groove belt seemed to "stick" in the groove as the pulley went around and would make the "knock" sound when it let go, if you understand what I'm saying, probably the compound in the belt. I had problems with a "multi-grooved" belt on a Lexus RX that would squall for about 30 seconds after start and the tension was correct. (Dayco belt) Took it back and got an OEM belt and the squall was gone. Belts themselves can be problematic.

 

I have gatorback belts on both supercharger and accessory drive. It's the the supercharger belt I took that belt off and turned on the truck and was still stealing so its for sure assert belti just ordered a dayco from autozone comes in tomorrow or Friday I will put it on and see if its the belt. It's so frustrating when you turn it on and you hear the belt squealing worst sound in the world haha