I recently replaced my alternator belt with a Gates, and, of course, it squealed right afterwards. I took it back off, cleaned it with dish washing liquid and a nylon brush (in case the pulleys were contaminated), and cleaned the pulleys with brake cleaner and paper towels. A little better, but still squealed. I tightened the belt. The squealing mostly disappeared for a day, then came back. Then I bought a belt tension gauge. The alt belt measured <30 lbs of tension. Spec is 70-140. Ah, so the belt stretched, right? So I re-tensioned it as I usually do. Same tension. OK, so it didn't stretch. I re-tensioned again, but tighter. It measured ~40. So then I tensioned it as tight as I could. I managed 50 lbs of tension. Still not up to spec, but it's been squeal-free for a day.
So how do you guys get the belts up to tension? The way I do it is with a 3/4" open-end wrench. It fits on the end of the alternator, and gives me plenty (I thought) of leverage. My concern was that my wrench tensioning setup could apply TOO much force, but apparently, it's not enough. But I don't see a better way.
Could be the alt and/or water pump has problems and belt is squealing for overload. Could be iffy pulley alignment. Too tight belt is bad as or worse than too loose and belt will have problems even break to cord layer and you have a dead belt.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
I have a gates belt on mine, tensioned with my own version of that gizmo mentioned and it still squeals from time to time. Ive not tried this yet but I may.
The tensioner add on is worth it. I also recommend only ever buying the Goodyear Gatorback now called Continental Elite belts. http://www.thequietbelt.com/
Thanks 2.5. Everyone has been telling me they no longer sell the Gatorback.
Be careful about overtightening the adjustment bolt. In an effort to stop what's thought to be changing adjustment, some have overtightened the bolt and caused the adjustment slot to break. I am one of those persons that's done that in the past. Wish he'd made the bracket repair back then. I had to replace the bracket.
Originally posted by theogre: Could be the alt and/or water pump has problems and belt is squealing for overload.
I don't think the wp has a problem. When the belt squeals, the voltage is low, indicating that the alternator isn't turning, or isn't turning at full speed.
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Originally posted by theogre: Could be iffy pulley alignment. Too tight belt is bad as or worse than too loose and belt will have problems even break to cord layer and you have a dead belt.
I figured as much... but you may have gone through a half dozen different Fieros since May 2001. It's always a good idea to mention the year and engine etc of the car in question when asking advice.
Forum profile information is often not accurate due to the reason Patrick explained. For instance, my current Fiero is not a Fiero GT... though I used to have one.
Hands down best option is DodgeRunner's tensioner. I've had it for a couple years. I haven't had any issues since. I think I spent less time installing it and putting the belt on than I would have just fighting with the stock setup.
Dodge runner auto belt tensioner For The Win!!! I do that on every single V6 Fiero I own and recommend it to all my FIERO friends. Hands down the best set up to stop the belt squeal problem, period..
An update. I bought a manual belt tensioner, and used it to tighten my belts. The worst one was the A/C belt. This also took more effort than I planned. It's a bit of a pain to get the tensioner positioned between the pulleys. If Dodgerunner's kit worked for the A/C belt, too, I'd get one.
Anyway... Both belts were loose (even though both are Gates). The alternator belt would slip in the morning until the belt warmed up. The A/C belt would squall horribly about 50% of the time. I managed to get both belts in the 85-95lb range of tension. Now both are perfectly quiet. I guess it remains to be seen how long this lasts.
It's always a good idea to mention the year and engine etc of the car in question when asking advice.
