Solution for squealing belt

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mongrot

Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2012
Messages
11
Location
Melville, Saskatchewan, Canada
Does your belt still squeal even after you tightened the hell out of it? Try putting some brake fluid on it (preferably with a rag/shop towel as to not make a mess), make sure there is an even layer around the whole belt & I bet you it'll stop squealing. Tried it & it worked for me.
 
Chrome or billet aluminum pulleys are famous for letting the belts slip. I guess it is because the surfaces are so smooth they have no tooth to them.

Do you think the brake fluid will shorten the life of the belts ? Reason I ask is that I used some belt dressing on the serpentine belt on my daily and it make it gummy and I had to replace it.

Don
 
Yep...that was my thought as well....

Chrome or billet aluminum pulleys are famous for letting the belts slip. I guess it is because the surfaces are so smooth they have no tooth to them.

Do you think the brake fluid will shorten the life of the belts ? Reason I ask is that I used some belt dressing on the serpentine belt on my daily and it make it gummy and I had to replace it.

Don

I can remember a time that people used brake fluid on the sides of their blackwall tires like armour all....not good for the rubber...I'm sure that the fluid makes the rubber more sticky...hence the reason for it not squeeling....
sometimes sanding the pulls helps or the ribbed belts sometimes are better for no noise than the solid ones.....JMHO>...
 
I can remember a time that people used brake fluid on the sides of their blackwall tires like armour all...

Yep, I used to do that......made'm look like new! Probably wasn't good for them but it didn't matter since my tires were usually worn out when I got them. :eek:

When I was in high school a friend of mine had a '69 Super Bee and even though it was only about 5 years old it was pretty ragged out from being flogged on a regular basis. He worked at a convenience store down the street from my house and usually got off work at midnight. One night I walked down and met him and we were going to go flog the Super Bee around town. It was low on oil so he topped it off and I pushed him across the parking lot to start it......weak battery........ when it fired it up the fan belt started squealing like crazy. Not being the smartest guy in the world, he grabbed a quart of oil from the rear floor board and dumped some on the belts..........they shut right up :D A few blocks away the lights started getting dim and it started overheating.......we both walked home that night. :eek:
 
sometimes sanding the pulls helps

Coarse sandpaper on the "traction" sides of a running V-belt cuts off the hard glaze. (Watch your fingers.:eek:) A shot of the old lady's hairspray works, too. (Both short term solutions. Long term: Buy a new belt.)


Do you think the brake fluid will shorten the life of the belts ? Reason I ask is that I used some belt dressing on the serpentine belt on my daily and it make it gummy and I had to replace it.

Hmmm. Back in my racing days, we spilled 80W oil on a brand new blower belt. We cleaned it up with Brake Kleen (TM) and it looked fine. When we fired the beast, the belt started to delaminate. Bits of rubber flung off at ballistic speed and ribbons of kevlar threatened to remove unwanted limbs. :eek:
 
We always used liquid dish soap or ran a bar of soap against the belt. It's a temporary fix tho.
 
I found that basically all cheap belts squeal no matter how tight. Autozone, Dayco, and the like are terrible.
Get good quality Gates belts if possible.

And don't over tighten belts, it will eventually ruin your accessories bearings. And I have heard it will ruin your #1 main bearing and crankshaft in extreme cases.
 
Brake fluid

I believe the brake fluid will not damage the belt because most brake seals are made of rubber. We all know that we NEVER let an oil based product touch our brake components. So if it stops the squeal, why not? Just a thought. Steve
 
Glycol ether based brake fluid will not damage rubber. Most belts today have little if any rubber in them, they are most likely made from urethane. Glycol ether is a key ingredient in most urethanes... I'm not a chemist, chemical engineer or scientist, but I did work in a urethane products research lab for 4 years. So, based on my limited knowledge... solvents that are used to make a material are also used to break down those same materials. Which is why brake fluid cracks the side wall of many tires, damages paint when it comes into contact with it and on so on. Passenger car tires have been made from urethane for a very long time and most have been rubber free for just as long and I'm going to guess the same is true with accessory drive belts.
 
the squealing noise on belts is the belts grabbing then slipping over and over again. It is a misconception that you want the belt to be "sticky" to grab the pulleys better. This actually makes the issue worse. As the belt wraps around the pulley it will always stretch and move on the contact surfaces. The "stickier" they are the worse the squeak. Think of wet sneakers on a tile floor. At the dealership we would hit the belt with brake clean, hit it both sides with a wire brush and then put a small dab of the silicone high temp brake grease on both sides. Just a small dab on the tip of your finger the size of a peanut M&M or smaller. The belt will not slip due to the tension but it will slide into and out of the pulley groves with no squeal. And it is a lasting fix. Side note though, make sure your pulleys are all lined up right. If one is out of line it will squeal all the time. Worse with serp belts.
 
Interesting.....

the squealing noise on belts is the belts grabbing then slipping over and over again. It is a misconception that you want the belt to be "sticky" to grab the pulleys better. This actually makes the issue worse. As the belt wraps around the pulley it will always stretch and move on the contact surfaces. The "stickier" they are the worse the squeak. Think of wet sneakers on a tile floor. At the dealership we would hit the belt with brake clean, hit it both sides with a wire brush and then put a small dab of the silicone high temp brake grease on both sides. Just a small dab on the tip of your finger the size of a peanut M&M or smaller. The belt will not slip due to the tension but it will slide into and out of the pulley groves with no squeal. And it is a lasting fix. Side note though, make sure your pulleys are all lined up right. If one is out of line it will squeal all the time. Worse with serp belts.

Will keep that in mind....hadn't thought about the sneaker example....so why is belt dressing sticky?? I hate the stuff cause it never works for any length of time....(I know...to sell more belt dressing as it squeals again)..but seriously, why is it tacky if that isn't the issue?? [S Hard to imagine anything slick not slippiing.....
 
so why is belt dressing sticky?? I hate the stuff cause it never works for any length of time.....

You just answered your own question there SGT. (Thats why you get the big bucks!) Don't think of the belt as super slick and totally lubed up. It is just enough to make a thin coat. Most accesories have a 1/2 wrap or more on the pulleys so there is plenty of contact area. There isn't enough drag on any one accesory to over come the the belts friction.
 
Thanks JFG, I learned something worth while right there! I'll try it on my 66 Cadi tomorrow. It has 3 belts, and have a heck of a time figuring out which one is squealing. I'll attest, the belt dressing doesn't last!
 

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