Solution for squealing belt

[mongrot]

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.

[donsrods]

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

[sgtpontiac]

Originally Posted by donsrods

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>...

[Old Iron]

Use belts made in the USA

[Snake Farm]

Originally Posted by sgtpontiac

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.

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 A few blocks away the lights started getting dim and it started overheating.......we both walked home that night.

[Dr Crankenstein]

Originally Posted by sgtpontiac

sometimes sanding the pulls helps

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

Originally Posted by donsrods

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.

[offroadrolls]

I used to hold a flat file on a running belt to break the glaze. Then rub some brake fluid on. I don't remember how well it worked. That was 30 some odd years ago.

[21willys]

We always used liquid dish soap or ran a bar of soap against the belt. It's a temporary fix tho.

[dmw56]

Originally Posted by 21willys

We always used liquid dish soap or ran a bar of soap against the belt. It's a temporary fix tho.

I've used this method. Seems to work for quite awhile.

[hotrodbill]

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.