SC pulley belt squealing?
 

Hey everyone,

this morning I fired up my car and noticed a loud squeal coming from the engine compartment. I'm guessing one of the belts is loose or needs replacing, maybe my Whipple's pulley belt. It got louder as I drove off and after about 5-8 minutes, it settled down a bit, but was still noticeable.

I didn't have time to pop the hood open and take a look as I was late for work. How hard is it to replace a SC pulley belt?

The belt is just like replacing any serpentine belt, but you have one extra adjustable pulley next to the Alt.. Before you buy a new belt you might want to check it out, it could be a pulley.

Yah, I'll take a look under the hood tonight. Thx.

If I do need a new belt, can I just get it direct from Whipple?

I hope for your sake that Whipple stocks the belt you need (you should always have a spare, even if you don't end up needing one now). I recently ordered a Gates belt for my Vortech blower at Amazon.com after giving up on Vortech to get back to me (my belt is not one of the belts shown on their website for sale and my phone messages went unanswered). Luckily, the actual Gates part # was in my installation book, since my belt only shows Vortech's part # for it.

Rob- Good luck tracking down your squeal. I couldn't find the source of mine. I ended up just replacing everything (new idler pulley, Vortech pulley, Steeda tensioner arm, and belt). Also decided to install a Meziere electric water pump since it was all apart. Now all is quiet. :grin:



I went with a Gatorback belt from my local Autozone, so far so good. :nice:

Just a FYI Gates makes NAPA's belts for them and they are less $$$ at NAPA.

Was just at Shelbyfest in Herman MO and a group of us were commenting on how many of the SC's squeal, we heard a number of them as they were pulling in. General concensus: its normal.

Yah, thanks for the tip. I guess I just need to get the part number...

What kind of squeal is it? There is a TSB about an idler pulley making noise on cold starts. It sounds a little like a belt squeal but it's a bit smoother.

My 08 makes this noise from time to time if it's a cold morning. Usually goes away pretty quickly.

It's a pretty loud squeal. Sounds like a stuck pig. It gradually goes away as the engine warms up, I'm guessing because the rubber expands and softens and grips better as it heats up. Hmm, maybe I'll take a brief video clip and post it up...

I'm looking at this Roush tensioner replacement...

http://www.haneymotorsport.com/Roush...0Tensioner.htm

CHECK IT RIGHT AWAY! I had the same noise but was too busy to check it, pulley riped the belt and had me stranded.

FWIW, mine started squealing at start up with less than 2K on the belt (usually lasted about 5 min.). It was more annoying than anything, but in the end a new belt took care of it. I also upgraded my tensioner about the same time as swapping the belt, so we will see if helps extend the life.

Guys,

I ordered a new upgraded tensioner (Roush) and belt and they are on their way. Any tips on removing/replacing the tensioner? How many bolts? Torque specs? Etc.?

3 bolts hold on the Tension, its about a 10 minute job to change.

Update: Belt squeal gone, but "whine" persists!
 

Guys,

thanks for all your input on this issue. I replaced the serpentine belt and the belt tensioner with an upgraded Roush unit. The belt squeal is gone, but there is still a "whining" sound coming from the pulley area. My gf has described it as a whining cat. It is directly related to rpm because it is noticeable at idle and gets louder as I get on it.

Any ideas? Should I replace the idler pulley?

That's what I did.

Squeals/whining are a PITA to track down.

Yah,

I'm gonna replace it with a Metco unit. I HOPE that does the trick !! :dunno:

I have a squeal that I can't find I jus replaced the belt on mine

Try a little trick that worked for me. Take a piece of garden hose or tubing, put one end up to your ear and the other end next to each of the pulleys.

You should be able to hear a noticeable noise difference from whichever one is causing the problem.

Also, did you check your belt tensioner? If it's worn out, it will not keep the belt tight enough which will cause it to squeal.

When I first start up in the Morning it squeal about 20 miles down the road it stops. I'm guessing it's the tensioner like u said or one of the pulleys