Belts or pulleys

[PhilDRich]

I am hearing a noise in my engine bay, a light squeeling sound. How can I determine if the noise is from the belts or the pulleys? I plan on changing my belts anyway, but I would hate to do the work and still have the noise and have to take the belts off the replace a pulley or 2.

Thanks,
Shawn :glasses:

 

[Deecarp]

if it sounds like crickets, it probably your belts. Visually check belts to see the wear and tear, for particals in the grooves. if everything looks good then make an adjustment to tighten up the belts and you should be fine.

 

[manta888]

probably belts, easiest thing to do, like 15 min max. unscrew two pulley bolts, then unscrew the 2 tension bolts from bottom, slip belts over pulleys, tighten the 4 bolts. 2 Belts are cheap, like 40$?, That belt spray stuff works temporarily like 2 hours, then same problem.

 

[jumbosrule]

Open the hood and watch the belts and pulleys. If there is ANY wobbling of any pulley - that's the problem.

If you do see wobbling the pulley could be fine, but the shaft, bearings, or seal that the particular pulley is driving might also be the problem.

If you can't see any abnormal movement, it's probably the belts. Look at them really closely to see if you can see small cracks, abraisions or burn marks from slipping on pulleys.