5.3L Serpentine Belt Dust Residue - How Much Is Normal?

[Anacortes Army Guy]

During my last oil change at the 21,000 mile mark the technician noted hearing a belt "squeal."  The service manager suggested that if it persists bring it back in and they'll replace the belt, assuming it's the source of the squeal.  When I got it home I lifted the hood with the engine running and couldn't hear any squeal, or a hint of a squeal, but after thirty years in the field artillery my hearing is somewhat degraded.  I don't see excessive black dust buildup on the front of the engine, but when I run my hand underneath the belt (engine off of course) there is a black film coating my fingers.  Now, I believe this is most likely normal, but would like to hear other forum members' opinions.  And my last question deals with the "ziptie method" of installing a new stretch serpentine belt.  I understand how the various installation tools work, but can someone please explain how to do it using zipties instead?  Thanks ahead of time for your responses.

[voided3]

On 4/21/2022 at 7:55 PM, Anacortes Army Guy said:

During my last oil change at the 21,000 mile mark the technician noted hearing a belt "squeal."  The service manager suggested that if it persists bring it back in and they'll replace the belt, assuming it's the source of the squeal.  When I got it home I lifted the hood with the engine running and couldn't hear any squeal, or a hint of a squeal, but after thirty years in the field artillery my hearing is somewhat degraded.  I don't see excessive black dust buildup on the front of the engine, but when I run my hand underneath the belt (engine off of course) there is a black film coating my fingers.  Now, I believe this is most likely normal, but would like to hear other forum members' opinions.  And my last question deals with the "ziptie method" of installing a new stretch serpentine belt.  I understand how the various installation tools work, but can someone please explain how to do it using zipties instead?  Thanks ahead of time for your responses.

I can't speak to how much dust is normal, but we had belt dust buildup on our engine and a belt chirp when cold for the first few minutes. They replaced the serpentine belt, AC belt, and idler pulley at 6300 miles. The truck is now at about 13,500 miles and it hasn't come back yet, and it's hard to tell if the dust currently on the engine is from the original belt or the new one since they unfortunately didn't detail my engine bay for me (haha). I'd just go ahead and have them replace the belt and idler pulley under warranty if they are offering to do it.