Belt Squeak

[Mikey]

I have a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 that has a serpentine belt squeak that I can’t seem to get rid of. I recently broke a serpentine belt, and a few days after I replaced it, it began having a squeak. It is a faint chirping, not loud and constant, it also seems to get more faint with higher RPM. I replaced both idler and tensioner pulleys. The noise is coming from the drivers side of the engine, from what I can tell, the power steering pump. I removed the belt entirely and checked all of the pulleys for play. I did not find any significant play in any of the pulleys. I experimented with loosening and tightening the tension on the belt, as it is adjustable, neither made a difference. I also used some belt conditioner to see if the noise was coming from the belt, or from a bearing. Made no difference. My next move is to go get a salvage yard power steering pump, and change out the pump. Does anyone have any suggestion of what I could do to know for sure where the noise is coming from? I don’t want to go throwing parts at it until it is fixed. Thank you.

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[EricTheCarGuy]

[quote=”mikeywil0003″ post=91643]I went and put a salvage yard power steering pump in it today, and they gave me a newish belt to try as well. Problem solved. I noticed a lot more play in the pulley on the pump once I had it out, than I did when it was on the engine. Perhaps the pressure of the fluid being in the pump effected how much end play I felt initially. I also noticed that the A/C compressor was shifted back further than the rest of the pulleys, so I just loosened that up and slid it forward. I used a straight edge to line everything up as best as I could. There is very little adjustment for the positioning of the accessories on that engine.

I had no idea that Eric The Car Guy himself would respond to this forum post. Thank you to everyone for pointing me in the right direction. I intend to keep this Jeep for a very long time. It reminds me of Eric’s reliable POS video. Its paid for, and it just keeps running, and they don’t make them like they used to. The only complaint I have about this Jeep is gas mileage, but in the end of the day, this Jeep owes me nothing.[/quote]

Yep, this is where I go to answer questions. I don’t answer them via email any longer. Just too many if I’m honest. In fact, this entire site is built around helping folks with their automotive issues. One of the reasons that I answer questions here instead of email is because the answers here go into our database which is searchable via the green box at the top of the page. If someone has a similar problem and they do a search, they may come up with an instant answer to their issue.

You did well lining everything up like you did. That will certainly extend the life of the belt and probably prevent other issues in the future. Thanks for keeping us updated and for using the ETCG forum.

[Author]

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