serpentine

[bhearts]

hey guys, i replaced my serpentine cause it was getting kinda scraggly. but now when i start up i get a horrible screach. could i have pushed my alternator too much and the belt is too tight? any thing else that could be causing it.

[DriverOne]

Re: serpentine

First thing's first, it's always best to polish the pulleys with a coarse wire wheel to remove any sediment from the previous belt. That in itself can cause the noise you mean. Tightening the belt too much will cause a whine to occur, not really a squeak. If it's too loose, that squeak will occur, but more than just during startup, which leads me back to my first statement.

[Movin]

Boy, they can sure make some noise! It may not be quite the same length
so that it cannot be tightened enough or it just simply needs more tension.

EDIT..Mornin Driverone you slipped in ahead of me
and all with good stuff for bhearts! Other things
can be factors too but first things first!

[WmWatt]

He noise is because the belt is too tight and stressing the bearings or because the belt is too loose and slipping in the pullies. You can tell which by measuring the deflection in the belt or sometimes just be grabbing the belt and tugging to see if it slips. The deflection is in the Haynes manual which I don't have handy as I'm at the public library just now. You could try the search feature of this forum because I recall seeing the deflection posted.

[crazyrog17]

serpentine

Half inch deflection along the longest span between pulleys

[bhearts]

you guys sure know you stuff. i love fordfestiva.com

[bhearts]

so i finally got it fixed. ended up being that when i loosened the belt up and it was still squeeling, i thought it was too loose. turns out that i had to loosen it soo much that i can turn the belt by hand, its more of less slipping now with the motor off. but no squeels while its running. so i think thats the proper setting.

[nitrofarm]

Something doesnt sounds correct still. Unless you had it insanely tight the first time. I agree with Driverone because thats exactly what we've experienced in the past. To loose= squeal,to tight = a whirring sound like a turbo spooling up.

[WmWatt]

I think if it squeals on startup it's tension, dirt, or moisture. Once it gets going there would be less resitance to overcome. If it were bearings it would squeal when running. When I get a bit of a squeal on startup I adjust the tension and it goes away.

[zoom zoom]

It would be really nice to have a belt tensioner set up like the fifth gen 626, which is really similar to our ac belt tensioner with a long bolt that adjusts tension. I hate the arcane method of wedging the prybar on the alternator, I've cracked the housings doing it.

[TorqueEffect]

It would be really nice to have a belt tensioner set up like the fifth gen 626, which is really similar to our ac belt tensioner with a long bolt that adjusts tension. I hate the arcane method of wedging the prybar on the alternator, I've cracked the housings doing it.

The way I do it doesn't risk banging up the housing on the alt.

I just loosen the adjuster bolt out enough to fit a breaker bar between the bolt and engine mount to get the tension I need, then just tightening down the pivot bolt until the alt stays where it is at without the breaker bar, and then just tighten down the adjuster bolt.

[bhearts]

so it just squeeks now. not the squell like it was before. and the belt slips when the motor is off. but that only on the harmonic balancer pully part. and now my charge battery light is coming on. i was out seeing some friends and headed home and it low voltage shut off on me. poor little car sputtered to a stop. had a buddy come and jump it and made it about halfway home. he gave me a good 10 minute charge jump, so i figured thatd be enough to get me home. could i be having battery issues (freaking cold out, first cold cold day of the year), alternator issues (i had stressed that alternator bearing to a point when it was making its pully with the serpentine really hot, i thought it was belt slip but now i know it was bearing rub). or could it be the cable coming from the alternator, or the two little baby cables that send the battery state signal and the low voltage light to my dash. any help is appreciated. gonna go tow it home in the morning.

[nitrofarm]

Pull the belt out of the way,or better yet pull the alt out and have someone with experience "Free Wheel" the shaft and check the bearings. And run the alt for diagnostic output.(Local parts store will do it for free) Its to hard to tell from what you are saying. But it sounds like the belt was to loose and you weren't getting enough charge. But on the other hand if the bearings are toast it will cause it to bind and therefore slip prematurely.Causing you to think you have the belt overtightened.

[crazyrog17]

serpentine

Ever figure out the problem? Re-reading the thread, it sounds like you had the belt way too loose and it didn't turn the alternator at all. You do have to use a pry bar to push the alternator out far enough to get only 1/2" deflection when you press on the span of the belt with a finger.

[bhearts]

haha, yes. that is exactly what the problem was. i think the problem started with my water pump leaking, which made me think that the belt was too tight. turns out that loose = squeeks, kinda tight = a horrible screach. but even more tight = no sounds. it just didnt feel right trying to get the belt that tight. i had a bad experience with a scooter seprentine belt about the same size as the ones on our cars. i tightened it too much and it broke. didnt want that happening again.