Cleaning Belts and Pulleys

[Riley]

I recently was bleeding a cooling system and in the process, coolant spilled on the belts and pulleys. As a result, the belt now makes a horrid squealing sound while the engine is running (at all RPMs).

Are there any tips to cleaning belts and pulleys? I’ve read using comet works, but I’ve also read pulling the belt off and cleaning it and the pulleys with carburetor cleaner and a nylon brush works.

Any advice?

Topic

[Jeff Ketchem]

I always clean pulleys with a rag soaked in brake cleaner when replacing the belt. I don’t know what to clean a belt with. If I consider a belt to be contaminated I just replace it. They aren’t too expensive.

[college man]

++1 on the brake clean for the pulleys. If the belt is 4 or more
years old replace it. If not then use dawn dish soap and the nylon
brush or old tooth brush. air dry and reinstall. 🙂

[Riley]

Brake clean did the trick. I took the belt off, used a toothbrush and Dawn soap on the belt and that cleaned it up well (i did this first before i cleaned the pulleys), then cleaned the pulleys with brake clean and a toothbrush.

I posted this here because I didn’t want to put a substance on the belt that would harm it… Comet is a natural abrasive and i thought had a chance of compromising the life of thebelt and I wasnt sure what chemicals might have a negative effect somewhere else. Some people try things without thinking lol…

[college man]

Glad it all worked out. Thanks for the update. 🙂

[Jeff Ketchem]

Awesome, glad they did the trick. Hey college man, that is brilliant I use dawn for everything never thought about for belts. I’ll file that in the memory bank lol

[Author]

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