It started with the alternator failing on the night before we were leaving for vacation. I replaced it with a Pep Boys unit (over $300!). Off we went.
A couple weeks later an accessory noise started. It was a squeal/chirping sound. I listened carefully and had it narrowed down to the a/c compressor. The clutch was noisy too. At 150k miles I decided to replace the whole unit instead of just the clutch.
I got a nice kit from discountacparts.com. It included all the o-rings, dryer and so on. I installed it and charged up the system. STILL squeaking! (but clutch rattle was gone)
I replaced the idler and tensioner pulley 30k miles ago with the timing belt but I replaced them again. I also checked the tension on the tensioner (method in the factory repair manual) and it was good. Still squeaking…
I thought maybe that new alternator was acting up so I removed it and took it to Pep Boys. They tested it and it would not squeak on their machine so they said there was nothing they could do. I put it back on thinking it must be fine.
I put it on a lift to get a different view and check pulley alignment – found nothing. The tensioner was bouncing a bit so I replaced it despite the “old” one having the proper tension. No dice.
So…only one rotating component left – the power steering pump. It had some noise anyway. I got one from Advance Auto. When I installed it I reinstalled the serp belt. I checked the belt for proper installation and saw that the edge of the belt was off the outside of the crank pulley a little. I figured it would be no big deal and would work its way on after a few rotations. I was wrong.
I fired up the engine and almost immediately heard an awful slapping sound. I shut it down and found that the last rib of the belt had separated. The rib hung on at a few points and they were slapping around. I clipped off the ones I could get to. Then I figured I would back the van out to clean the mess on the floor from changing the pump. Then I would pull it in and put a new belt on (the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] one during this saga).
I started up the van and put it in reverse. All of a sudden the slapping started again and before I could do anything the engine shut off abruptly. I checked a bunch of stuff and could not figure it out! I was tired of it by now and had it towed to a friend’s garage. He called the next day and said there was NO compression in any cylinder! The timing had jumped but WHY? The timing belt was still tight!
I researched and decided to just replace the engine. I found a 59k mile engine for $850 shipped. The garage replaced it for $1200 complete with alignment(dropped subframe), fluids and all. After the engine was pulled I went to the garage to see if we could figure out what happened. Nothing. We could find nothing. That was until we pulled the crank pulley – holy smokes!
The rib of the serpentine belt that separated had wrapped around the base on the INSIDE of the crank pulley and then rode up under the timing cover and onto the crank gear LIFTING THE TIMING BELT OFF THE GEAR!!!! Son of a gun!
So…we get the “new” engine in with all the components off the old engine. No kidding, the squeak was STILL THERE!
So…the new power steering pump was not putting out proper pressure and I thought that may still be the culprit of my squeaking belt. I found that Honda sells a factory rebuilt pump for $130!! (online price) That is less than the junk Advance Auto one I bought. I also bought a new p/s pump pulley to take that out of the equation.
Installed the Honda pump and pulley and yet another new belt (always Dayco belts) and the squeak came back after a week!
At this point I am ready to go on medication. Of course I had Googled this problem several times during this 6 month saga but I tried again. I found some YouTube videos on the subject and learned that there are different sounds and that you can learn what your problem is from the sound. There is chirping and squealing. Chirping is caused by misaligned pulleys and that is the sound I had.
Furthermore, a check for chirping is to put water on the ribbed part of the belt. If the sound goes away then returns after the belt dries – its chirping or misaligned pulleys. I tried this exact experiment on my belt and it worked just as advertised.
So I have a pulley misalignment! The YouTube video showed the use of a Dayco pulley alignment test tool. I checked it out and picked one up at Advance Auto for $100. I am relatively sure I will find the alternator pulley out of alignment. This is not adjustable in anyway which means the rebuilt Pep Boys unit has the wrong pulley or it was not installed properly.
Go ahead and flame all you want. All this took place over 6 months. Sometimes I forgot what I did until I got to work on it again each time. I tried all kinds of things along the way. I shared it with several mechanics and mechanical friends. I put drops of oil here and there many times trying to narrow the problem down (I later learned that the oil drops likely were sprayed back out and onto the surface of the belt thereby temporarily quieting the misaligned pulley). I went through numerous new, high-quality belts. I cleaned the pulleys carefully several times.
I will report back after I check the pulley alignment. I have over $3k in chasing this squeak. I WILL fix it!ver $300!). Off we went.
A couple weeks later an accessory noise started. It was a squeal/chirping sound. I listened carefully and had it narrowed down to the a/c compressor. The clutch was noisy too. At 150k miles I decided to replace the whole unit instead of just the clutch.
I got a nice kit from discountacparts.com. It included all the o-rings, dryer and so on. I installed it and charged up the system. STILL squeaking!
I replaced the idler and tensioner pulley 30k miles ago with the timing belt but I replaced them again. I also checked the tension on the tensioner (method in the factory repair manual) and it was good. Still squeaking…
I thought maybe that new alternator was acting up so I removed it and took it to Pep Boys. The tested it and it would not squeak on their machine so they said there was nothing they could do. I put it back on thinking it must be fine.
I put it on a lift to get a different view and check pulley alignment – found nothing. The tensioner was bouncing a bit so I replaced it despite the “old” one having the proper tension. No dice.
So…only one rotating component left – the power steering pump. It had some noise anyway. I got one from Advance Auto. When I installed it I put reinstalled the serp belt. I checked the belt for proper installation and saw that the edge of the belt was off the outside of the crank pulley a little. I figured it would be no big deal and would work its way on after a few rotations. I was wrong.
I fired up the engine and almost immediately heard an awful slapping sound. I shut it down and found that the last rib of the belt had separated. The rib hung on at a few points and they were slapping around. I clipped off the ones I could get to. Then I figured I would back the van out to clean the mess on the floor from changing the pump. Then I would pull it in and put a new belt on (the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] one during this saga).
I started up the van and put it in reverse. All of a sudden the slapping started again and before I could do anything the engine shut off abruptly. I checked a bunch of stuff and could not figure it out! I was tired of it by now and had it towed to a friend’s garage. He called the next day and said there was NO compression in any cylinder! The timing had jumped but WHY? The timing belt was still tight!
I researched and decided to just replace the engine. I found a 59k mile engine for $850 shipped. The garage replaced it for $1200 complete with alignment(dropped subframe), fluids and all. After the engine was pulled I went to the garage to see if we could figure out what happened. Nothing. We could find nothing. That was until we pulled the crank pulley – holy smokes!
The rib of the serpentine belt that separated had wrapped around the base on the INSIDE of the crank pulley and then rode up under the timing cover and onto the crank gear LIFTING THE TIMING BELT OFF THE GEAR!!!! Son of a gun!
So…we get the “new” engine in with all the components off the old engine. No kidding, the squeak was STILL THERE!
So…the new power steering pump was not putting out proper pressure and I thought that may still be the culprit of my squeaking belt. I found that Honda sells a factory rebuilt pump for $130!! (online price) That is less than the junk Advance Auto one I bought. I also bought a new p/s pump pulley to take that out of the equation.
Installed the Honda pump and pulley and yet another new belt (always Dayco belts) and the squeak came back after a week!
At this point I am ready to go on medication. Of course I had Googled this problem several times during this 6 month saga but I tried again. I found some YouTube videos on the subject and learned that there are different sounds and that you can learn what your problem is from the sound. There is chirping and squealing. Chirping is caused by misaligned pulleys and that is the sound I had.
Furthermore, a check for chirping is to put water on the ribbed part of the belt. If the sound goes away then returns after the belt dries – its chirping or misaligned pulleys. I tried this exact experiment on my belt and it worked just as advertised.
So I have a pulley misalignment! The YouTube video showed the use of a Dayco pulley alignment test tool. I checked it out and picked one up at Advance Auto for $100. I am relatively sure I will find the alternator pulley out of alignment. This is not adjustable in anyway which means the rebuilt Pep Boys unit has the wrong pulley or it was not installed properly.
Go ahead and flame all you want. All this took place over 6 months. Sometimes I forgot what I did tuntil I got to work on it again each time. I tried all kinds of things along the way. I shared it with several mechanics and mechanical friends. I put drops of oil here and there many times trying to narrow the problem down (I later learned that the oil drops likely were sprayed back out and onto the surface of the belt thereby temporarily quieting the misaligned pulley). I went through numerous new, high-quality belts. I cleaned the pulleys carefully several times.
I will report back after I check the pulley alignment. I have over $3k in chasing this squeak. I WILL fix it!
A couple weeks later an accessory noise started. It was a squeal/chirping sound. I listened carefully and had it narrowed down to the a/c compressor. The clutch was noisy too. At 150k miles I decided to replace the whole unit instead of just the clutch.
I got a nice kit from discountacparts.com. It included all the o-rings, dryer and so on. I installed it and charged up the system. STILL squeaking! (but clutch rattle was gone)
I replaced the idler and tensioner pulley 30k miles ago with the timing belt but I replaced them again. I also checked the tension on the tensioner (method in the factory repair manual) and it was good. Still squeaking…
I thought maybe that new alternator was acting up so I removed it and took it to Pep Boys. They tested it and it would not squeak on their machine so they said there was nothing they could do. I put it back on thinking it must be fine.
I put it on a lift to get a different view and check pulley alignment – found nothing. The tensioner was bouncing a bit so I replaced it despite the “old” one having the proper tension. No dice.
So…only one rotating component left – the power steering pump. It had some noise anyway. I got one from Advance Auto. When I installed it I reinstalled the serp belt. I checked the belt for proper installation and saw that the edge of the belt was off the outside of the crank pulley a little. I figured it would be no big deal and would work its way on after a few rotations. I was wrong.
I fired up the engine and almost immediately heard an awful slapping sound. I shut it down and found that the last rib of the belt had separated. The rib hung on at a few points and they were slapping around. I clipped off the ones I could get to. Then I figured I would back the van out to clean the mess on the floor from changing the pump. Then I would pull it in and put a new belt on (the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] one during this saga).
I started up the van and put it in reverse. All of a sudden the slapping started again and before I could do anything the engine shut off abruptly. I checked a bunch of stuff and could not figure it out! I was tired of it by now and had it towed to a friend’s garage. He called the next day and said there was NO compression in any cylinder! The timing had jumped but WHY? The timing belt was still tight!
I researched and decided to just replace the engine. I found a 59k mile engine for $850 shipped. The garage replaced it for $1200 complete with alignment(dropped subframe), fluids and all. After the engine was pulled I went to the garage to see if we could figure out what happened. Nothing. We could find nothing. That was until we pulled the crank pulley – holy smokes!
The rib of the serpentine belt that separated had wrapped around the base on the INSIDE of the crank pulley and then rode up under the timing cover and onto the crank gear LIFTING THE TIMING BELT OFF THE GEAR!!!! Son of a gun!
So…we get the “new” engine in with all the components off the old engine. No kidding, the squeak was STILL THERE!
So…the new power steering pump was not putting out proper pressure and I thought that may still be the culprit of my squeaking belt. I found that Honda sells a factory rebuilt pump for $130!! (online price) That is less than the junk Advance Auto one I bought. I also bought a new p/s pump pulley to take that out of the equation.
Installed the Honda pump and pulley and yet another new belt (always Dayco belts) and the squeak came back after a week!
At this point I am ready to go on medication. Of course I had Googled this problem several times during this 6 month saga but I tried again. I found some YouTube videos on the subject and learned that there are different sounds and that you can learn what your problem is from the sound. There is chirping and squealing. Chirping is caused by misaligned pulleys and that is the sound I had.
Furthermore, a check for chirping is to put water on the ribbed part of the belt. If the sound goes away then returns after the belt dries – its chirping or misaligned pulleys. I tried this exact experiment on my belt and it worked just as advertised.
So I have a pulley misalignment! The YouTube video showed the use of a Dayco pulley alignment test tool. I checked it out and picked one up at Advance Auto for $100. I am relatively sure I will find the alternator pulley out of alignment. This is not adjustable in anyway which means the rebuilt Pep Boys unit has the wrong pulley or it was not installed properly.
Go ahead and flame all you want. All this took place over 6 months. Sometimes I forgot what I did until I got to work on it again each time. I tried all kinds of things along the way. I shared it with several mechanics and mechanical friends. I put drops of oil here and there many times trying to narrow the problem down (I later learned that the oil drops likely were sprayed back out and onto the surface of the belt thereby temporarily quieting the misaligned pulley). I went through numerous new, high-quality belts. I cleaned the pulleys carefully several times.
I will report back after I check the pulley alignment. I have over $3k in chasing this squeak. I WILL fix it!ver $300!). Off we went.
A couple weeks later an accessory noise started. It was a squeal/chirping sound. I listened carefully and had it narrowed down to the a/c compressor. The clutch was noisy too. At 150k miles I decided to replace the whole unit instead of just the clutch.
I got a nice kit from discountacparts.com. It included all the o-rings, dryer and so on. I installed it and charged up the system. STILL squeaking!
I replaced the idler and tensioner pulley 30k miles ago with the timing belt but I replaced them again. I also checked the tension on the tensioner (method in the factory repair manual) and it was good. Still squeaking…
I thought maybe that new alternator was acting up so I removed it and took it to Pep Boys. The tested it and it would not squeak on their machine so they said there was nothing they could do. I put it back on thinking it must be fine.
I put it on a lift to get a different view and check pulley alignment – found nothing. The tensioner was bouncing a bit so I replaced it despite the “old” one having the proper tension. No dice.
So…only one rotating component left – the power steering pump. It had some noise anyway. I got one from Advance Auto. When I installed it I put reinstalled the serp belt. I checked the belt for proper installation and saw that the edge of the belt was off the outside of the crank pulley a little. I figured it would be no big deal and would work its way on after a few rotations. I was wrong.
I fired up the engine and almost immediately heard an awful slapping sound. I shut it down and found that the last rib of the belt had separated. The rib hung on at a few points and they were slapping around. I clipped off the ones I could get to. Then I figured I would back the van out to clean the mess on the floor from changing the pump. Then I would pull it in and put a new belt on (the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] one during this saga).
I started up the van and put it in reverse. All of a sudden the slapping started again and before I could do anything the engine shut off abruptly. I checked a bunch of stuff and could not figure it out! I was tired of it by now and had it towed to a friend’s garage. He called the next day and said there was NO compression in any cylinder! The timing had jumped but WHY? The timing belt was still tight!
I researched and decided to just replace the engine. I found a 59k mile engine for $850 shipped. The garage replaced it for $1200 complete with alignment(dropped subframe), fluids and all. After the engine was pulled I went to the garage to see if we could figure out what happened. Nothing. We could find nothing. That was until we pulled the crank pulley – holy smokes!
The rib of the serpentine belt that separated had wrapped around the base on the INSIDE of the crank pulley and then rode up under the timing cover and onto the crank gear LIFTING THE TIMING BELT OFF THE GEAR!!!! Son of a gun!
So…we get the “new” engine in with all the components off the old engine. No kidding, the squeak was STILL THERE!
So…the new power steering pump was not putting out proper pressure and I thought that may still be the culprit of my squeaking belt. I found that Honda sells a factory rebuilt pump for $130!! (online price) That is less than the junk Advance Auto one I bought. I also bought a new p/s pump pulley to take that out of the equation.
Installed the Honda pump and pulley and yet another new belt (always Dayco belts) and the squeak came back after a week!
At this point I am ready to go on medication. Of course I had Googled this problem several times during this 6 month saga but I tried again. I found some YouTube videos on the subject and learned that there are different sounds and that you can learn what your problem is from the sound. There is chirping and squealing. Chirping is caused by misaligned pulleys and that is the sound I had.
Furthermore, a check for chirping is to put water on the ribbed part of the belt. If the sound goes away then returns after the belt dries – its chirping or misaligned pulleys. I tried this exact experiment on my belt and it worked just as advertised.
So I have a pulley misalignment! The YouTube video showed the use of a Dayco pulley alignment test tool. I checked it out and picked one up at Advance Auto for $100. I am relatively sure I will find the alternator pulley out of alignment. This is not adjustable in anyway which means the rebuilt Pep Boys unit has the wrong pulley or it was not installed properly.
Go ahead and flame all you want. All this took place over 6 months. Sometimes I forgot what I did tuntil I got to work on it again each time. I tried all kinds of things along the way. I shared it with several mechanics and mechanical friends. I put drops of oil here and there many times trying to narrow the problem down (I later learned that the oil drops likely were sprayed back out and onto the surface of the belt thereby temporarily quieting the misaligned pulley). I went through numerous new, high-quality belts. I cleaned the pulleys carefully several times.
I will report back after I check the pulley alignment. I have over $3k in chasing this squeak. I WILL fix it!
