Belt Squeak/Squeal - Observations and Personal Solution (warning, kind

jrrod2004 · December 15, 2012

I have had the serpentine belt squeak, and squeal on the truck for some time now. I poured over all the possible reasons why the main belt could be making noise and how to remedy it. A little bit about the test subject (whom name is Sally). 2006 Silverado with the 4.8. Mileage is 97800. Main belt replaced twice for wear and AC belt replaced once for wear prior to addressing this noise. I should have taken photos to show some highlights but I didnt, sorry.

I decided to do the 100K preventative maintenance schedule on the truck in hopes of having the noise go away. Items consisted of the following:

Radiator replacement (Slight gunk found in it)

Complete drain, water flush with a tad of cleaning and refill of the antifreeze.

Water pump replacement

All hoses replaced

Power steering pump replaced (had been giving a slight leak for some time).

Main tensioner replaced (it was the original)

Idler pulley replaced

Both belts replaced with a Gator back version.

Since I had all the components off at one point, the entire front of the block was hand washed, gaskets filed down and cleaned with distilled water. Front of the block was check with a simple 4 foot aluminum meter stick for trueness (you never know). Then each replaced component was reinstalled, seated and check with the same meter stick for trueness. All checked out, everything reinstalled and buttoned up. Truck started with no noise and was like that for about 2 days. Same EXACT squeak/squeal came back so all parts were rechecked, verified for trueness and actually swapped out (lifetime warranty on all of them) several times. Noise persisted until last night but I will get to that in a moment.

I must give the description squeal/squeal so that others can understand. Sally would start up in the morning (either by the remote start or myself) and have the initial squeak (intermittent kind). There were days when the squeak would go away when Sally warmed up, then there were days when the squeak would stay no matter how hot (I live in Austin Texas) or how cold it got. Annoying but I could live with it for a bit. There was no pattern found in 3 months that I kept a journal on the squeak.

The second noise I would get mixed in with the squeak (every so often) would be the LOUD screeching squeal that NEVER stopped. How to tell the difference: the squeak sounded like a chirp chirp and the squeal sounded like a cat being killed (I have no other way to describe it). Each sound was very distinctive and this is what had 4 shops scratching their heads. Squeak would go away, squeal would remain or squeal would go away and squeak would remain. They and I could never get Sally to shut it for more than a day (and that was after replacing the entire front end again (all belts and pulleys except the crank pulley). I would say that each shop did a superb job of workmanship and patience on trying to solve this annoyance. ALL the shops ended up refunding all the money that I spent (because they could not honor their guarantee to get the truck quiet) so I was out only the original cost of replacing the parts the first time (I did the original labor job) and left standing with Sally and her noisy self.

Last night, a carpenter was at a friend's house in the middle of a bathroom remodel and I pulled up with Sally to give a hand with the remodel. Carpenter comes out of the house right after I turn her off and asks a couple of people that were helping out with the remodel, "Who was making all that LOUD racket, this is a quiet neighborhood?" They all point to Sally and he goes on to ask "Who's beautiful truck is this?" I have to take ownership of Sally's problem and start her up for this carpenter. He hears the initial noise, then asks to pop the hood.

He then tells everybody to shut up while he listens to the noise with the hood up (freaking loud at that point). He then does a visual inspection of the front of the block and simply asks "This all NEW parts?" I tell him yep and he says "You run down to Home Depot to pick up some materials to complete the remodel, and I will tell you how to shut her up." I am thinking to myself "This guy is a carpenter, not a mechanic. All he wants is a free run to Home Depot..." but one of the guys sees me thinking and says "Listen to him, he has fixed all kinds of problems in the past for us. Hell, we will pay for your gas if you want to" and then proceeds to throw a hundred on the now closed hood. I say that I am game and so the carpenter gives me a list of things to pick up from Home Depot (an assortment of crap if you ask me but I ain't doing any real work on the remodel).

Come back and the half the neighborhood is standing around watching me pull up. They are smiling and I am thinking "What did I really get myself into?" Carpenter asks for all the bags, fishes out one of the bottles that was on the list and tells me to pop the hood. He already had painter's tape and two handfuls of paper towels. He takes off the belt, stuffs and tapes the papertowels behind both the idler pulley and the tensioner pulley. He then takes more paper towels and tapes them on the adjoining parts to cover them (intake, other pulleys and whatnot). He then sprays quarter second bursts on each pulley, front and back, spins them and sprays more quarter second bursts while spinning. He then waits 15 seconds, takes all the tape and papertowels off. He cleans up his mess and reinstalls the belt. He fires Sally up and she is quieter than a mouse...neighborhood erupts into laughter and a lot of "I told you so" erupts. I dont believe my ears so I drag the garden hose and spray a bunch of water (because spraying water on the front brought back the noise in the past) for nearly 3 minutes, to no avail. Still quiet. I take her on the freeway and punch that stuff (toll roads ) and then come back and spray some more water. STILL no noise so I figure, "It will come back after Sally has sat overnight, a good cold soak will bring the noise back." Caught a ride home and went back this morning. Started her up and NO NOISE so I go and look at this can that he bought from Home Depot:

http://www.homedepot...51#.UMyBgm-1WPs

There you go folks. After 5 months of swapping new parts, visiting different shops, paying loads of cash (and then getting it refunded), documenting and researching to no avail, here a carpenter fixes the problem with 6 minutes of his day. His charge: couple of beers and two burgers made his way. He did tell me that if the original parts were on the truck, he would have inspected the idler pulley and the tensioner to verify if they were clean, if they were not cleaned, he would have made me clean them and then spray them to shut them up.

If you have this problem, you just might want to verify your idler pulley, tensioner for any wear or play. If they are worn or have any play, replace them. Clean up the area and spray in VERY SHORT bursts. If you are like me and have already had everything cleaned and replaced, then this is all you need. Yes, I know that it hasnt even been a full day yet but I cant get used to the silence (yet). Next up, Airbag light *sigh*

- Cueva

txab · December 15, 2012

I know of a few people that have used this method when all else failed.

jrrod2004 · December 15, 2012

Ha, Cueva got schooled by a carpenter no less . I am happy with the results so far.

txab · December 15, 2012

Babyhauler · December 16, 2012

Glad to see this post. I hope it works on mine.

My 01 1500 has all new parts and still squeaks. It was not squeaking when I was still driving it daily back in the spring. The alternator was the last noise maker. I will try this repair on the bearings. I must clean mine since it has some miles since replacing the parts.

I may even have a can of the spray already.

Thanks for the info and a correct title to the post so affected readers and searchers will open / find some helpful tips.

Babyhauler

GMCustomerService · December 19, 2012

M. Cueva,

I am glad to hear that your concern has been resolved. Let me know if you need anything in the future.

Tricia, GM Customer Service.

jrrod2004 · October 2, 2013

Update: it has been nearly a year (ok, 10 months) since that squeal was gone. It came back this weekend after Austin had a good rainstorm. Got annoyed to say the least since I didnt move the truck pretty much all weekend. The storm was bad enough that GPS and in dash radio were reset.

After hearing the squeal, I checked the pulleys to verify alignment (they all checked out) so I was left scratching my head trying to figure this one out. Searched online and found a video suggesting to clean each pulley with carb cleaner and the scrubbing it with a bristle brush (for the grooved pulleys) and then using a little bit of steel wool to clean the smooth pulleys.

Took off the belt and cleaned that too with the carb cleaner and then scraped the belt grooves as well. Let the cleaner dry off and put everything back together. Quiet as a mouse. Dont know how long the silence will last but it was better than replacing parts....

gmtech4 · October 3, 2013

i didnt read that the a/c tensioner was ever replaced ,,,,i know its not your trouble but they do take a crap

jrrod2004 · October 3, 2013

Hey Rob, thanks. I am on my 4th tensioner (warranty replacement)....I have gotten so quick at swapping it, I can now do the swap in 3 minutes at Oreillys. The chirp came back this afternoon....very intermittent only at low speed. inspected the pulleys and they had a little bit of fine dirt. got to spraying, scrubbing and inspecting. squeak is gone again. I dont know if I am missing a plastic part from under the truck or what. Maybe another replacement and a through cleaning on all the pulleys (and belt replacements) will solve the issue.

I like the fact that the cleaning is actually working (nothing ever wrong with a little elbow grease).

Will keep this posted as anything develops.

i didnt read that the a/c tensioner was ever replaced ,,,,i know its not your trouble but they do take a crap

gmtech4 · October 4, 2013

a/c tensioner not accy drive tensioner,,,,2 belts on your truck

jrrod2004 · October 4, 2013

A/C tensioner: No, it is the original

A/C Belt: No, it is the original

a/c tensioner not accy drive tensioner,,,,2 belts on your truck

Sir Dan · October 4, 2013

Lots of the LS1 guys use this to quiet belts and make them last forever:

http://store.katechengines.com/billet-belt-tensioner-p4.aspx

I have replaced the tensioner on my Trans am with acdelco because of the chirping, but if it comes back, I'm getting this. One time setup to tighten and it's good to go. They say your serpentine belt won't stretch without the use of a spring type tensioner.