Squealing Drive Belt(s)

Hi all,

I recently had my power steering pump serviced for a leaking seal and about
4 days afterward, the belt(s) squeals very loudly at startup and quits when
I get up to 2.5 to 3K rpm. The PS fluid leaked on the belts alot and the
dealership did a pretty good job cleaning up the mess. Can the belts
saturated with the fluid and beyond use? The noise quits if I can keep a
steady high rpm (like on the highway) however, as soon as the rpm's drops,
it starts again. Are the belts too loose? I trust the Honda service tech
set them at the right tension. I had the T-belt service done 3 months ago
by a independent Honda/Acura shop and I want to try and keep these belts
since they're new. Any suggestions?

Carl
'93 Accord SE 225K

 

if there squealing there loose or bad. Generally if belts get soaked with
oil we replace them.
take it back to the shop

 

Hello Carl,

Sounds like they might have slipped enough to glaze their surfaces a
bit, resulting in slippage even after they've been cleaned up. Do the
surfaces seem to be in good shape?

You said that you "trust" they've been set to the right tension.
Can you verify this yourself? Also, has anyone removed the upper t-belt
cover to make sure that the t-belt didn't catch any
ps-fluid through the small opening where the left engine mount attaches
to the block? This would be bad.

Also, since you mentioned you had the t-belt service previously, it's
possible that the shop dinked up the PS pump when they had to move it
out of the way for the service. Not sure how one would ever prove this
if it were the case though...

Just my $.02

Good luck

Justin

 

Hi Justin,

Thanks for the reply...the belts look good, I sprayed silicone spray on the
belts today and that helped alot but they're still squeeling to a lesser
extent. I don't think any PS fluid came close to the upper t-belt cover,
the leak was at the front seal on the pump and you could see by the trail
pattern on the hood. BTW, the pump was leaking before the t-belt job. As
far as verifying the tension myself, how far should in the belt(s) deflect
if I pushed on the belt(s)? I'm curious as to why in the first 3-4 days,
everything was fine and now this is occuring?

Carl

 

If your belts got doused in power steering fluid they should have been
replaced. You might be able to remove them and clean off the fluid
residue, but that typically doesnt work very well.

-Pete

 

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the reply....Well, I checked the tension on the alternator belt
and lo and behold, it's as loose as can be, I'm surprised it didn't fly off.
The pivot bolt and "tension" adjuster bolt, were so loose, I probably could
have hand tightened them if I had the leverage. I adjusted the tension to a
deflection similar to my wife's Accord, tightened the pivot bolt, cleaned
off as much fluid as possible, and presto, no squeeling, took for 12 mile
drive with AC, lights, lighter, NO problems. Now I'm ticked of at the
dealer since the PS pump work wouldn't involve the alternator or its belt
and I'm suspecting some "additional adjustments" were done hoping I'd bring
it back and then I'd be hit me with some additional bogus repairs. I DIY
for the most part but didn't have time to deal with the PS problem. Is this
typical of a dealer...worth complaining about? Thanks.

Carl

 

On my Civic, I needed to loosen the alternator to remove the
belt so that I could remove the timing belt cover. If this
is the case with your Accord, then I guess that the guy who
did the TB forgot to tension the alternator belt afterward.
The belt squeal now because the oil spilled on it at the
dealer. You shouldn't blame the dealer for this.

 

Hi Carl,

It definitely sounds like something fishy is going on with the dealer.
For a decent mechanic to leave a belt wobbling lose there's definitely
a serious problem. Is your car equipped with A/C? Might want to check
all belts. As for proper deflection and tension, the books I've seen
suggest 1/4 inch deflection @ 20lb. for 6-12 inch distances, 1/2 inch @
20lb for > 12 inch distances.

When comparing to a new honda, the new honda's belts are a hell of a
lot tighter than is recommended in the manual, so I usually just get
them good and tight, within reason of course. On my accord the PS pump
has no adjusting nut, so you have to do it with a crow-bar leveraged
against the engine & ps-pump. I usually just set the PS pump as tight
as I can muster (which is right in the range).

Judging by your post you have the belt tension issues all worked out
though.
I'd definitely scream at the dealer for bone-heading your belts. It's
just like you're asking anything unreasonable: just put the damn belts
back on the right way.

Also, is your water pump driven by the alternator belt? If so, then if
it was lose enough you could've had some serious overheating issues.
Not to mention the charging system issues if the alternator wasn't
being driven properly. So good thing you checked it out and tightnened
it up.

- Justin