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  • Accessory Belt Squeal - 3.4 - PS Pump question

    Question: Trying to find squeak: Is slight "clicking" or "grabbing" when turning Power Steering Pump pulley in reverse direction by hand normal? More importantly, would this cause belt squeal?

    Background (skip it if you don't like reading and just answer the above question):

    Heres my Hillary Clinton of a story: on start up the '95 Camaro has been squealing. Every time someone walks by they go "Wow, have you got a hamster under that hood?" People in those little foreign hybrids want to race me. It's really embarrassing. I'm always telling people "No I don't have a hamster under the hood!" For Christ's sake, if I did he'd be in aluminum foil with garlic and potatoes.

    Squeaking problem: First seemed to be associated to when it was damp out. The squeak goes away as it warms up. But it's been getting worse ever since. So, I spray a little lube on the belt to see if that helps and it does! Until I stop spraying, then squeaks again. Copulation! So I check the belt tensioner and decide it needs changing. 44 bucks later, still squeaking. Take belt off and check all the accessories. Notice the the water pump makes a slight slight vibration when I twirl it like a top and a noise when I turn it slow and seems to have just a little play laterally. $88 and 8 hours later I've got a new thermostat and water pump and STILL have a frigging squeal. (And changing that thermostat is still the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life).

    Detailed description of problem:

    When I was knee deep in the water pump replacement I notice that when I turn the power steering pump backwards it sort of grabs and releases, or "clicks" but not really audibly. Book says that's how you prime it, but I haven't found on the board anyone saying whether its supposed to click when turning by hand backwards. Anyone know?


    FAQ: Belt was changed 1-1/2 years ago with a new Gates and still looks brand new. Tried locating squeal with stethoscope (every component sounds loud with the stethoscope), but my best guess was water pump (see above). Everything else turns smooth. No squeal with belt off.

  • #2
    Re: Accessory Belt Squeal - 3.4 - PS Pump question

    "No I don't have a hamster under the hood!" For Christ's sake, if I did he'd be in aluminum foil with garlic and potatoes.
    wtf. who eats hamsters?

    i dont know about the clicking. but i do know that you should spray that belt lube stuff on your belt. that stuff is garbage and can ruin stuff. ive never heard of the ps pump causing belt squeal. i would say try replacing the belt. it would be cheaper than all these other repairs youre trying.

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    • #3
      Re: Accessory Belt Squeal - 3.4 - PS Pump question

      Originally posted by FadeToBlak121 View Post
      wtf. who eats hamsters?

      i dont know about the clicking. but i do know that you should spray that belt lube stuff on your belt. that stuff is garbage and can ruin stuff. ive never heard of the ps pump causing belt squeal. i would say try replacing the belt. it would be cheaper than all these other repairs youre trying.

      Well, I wouldn't, but there is a book out there with recipes "Extreme Cuisine." (check out the first page of the table of contents) http://www.amazon.com/dp/079460255X?...0&linkCode=asn

      Yeah... I'm figuring out that my diagnostic abilities are poop. I'll try putting on my old belt next and see if that works. I hadn't tried that since I changed the belt in 2006, and the old belt was the original one from the factory and the new one was an identical Gates, so, being stubborn, I jumped the conclusion that it couldn't be the belt.

      Yeah, I know that the belt dressing is crap and doesn't work for our cars. It just looked soooo good sitting on the shelf at the auto parts store. Sooooo good.
      Last edited by landj; 07-16-2008, 11:48 AM.

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      • #4
        Re: Accessory Belt Squeal - 3.4 - PS Pump question

        Your current belt probably got glazed and so is sqealing because it's too slick and is slipping all the time. I would suggest cleaning all of the pulleys, maybe with brake cleaner and a rag or sponge, and then put a new belt on there.
        2002 Silver Firebird A4<br />T-Tops, Leather, Y87, W68, Chrome Wheels<br />Bone Stock

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        • #5
          Re: Accessory Belt Squeal - 3.4 - PS Pump question

          yeah thats a good call.

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          • #6
            Re: Accessory Belt Squeal - 3.4 - PS Pump question

            Originally posted by Rob Bell View Post
            Your current belt probably got glazed and so is sqealing because it's too slick and is slipping all the time. I would suggest cleaning all of the pulleys, maybe with brake cleaner and a rag or sponge, and then put a new belt on there.
            I like it, I'll give it a try.

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            • #7
              Re: Accessory Belt Squeal - 3.4 - PS Pump question

              Thanks Rob, Fade. I took the belt off and it did look a little glazed. I didn't have any brake cleaner, so I scrubbed it with dish soap and water with a rag and a brush and one of those "safe for teflon" scrubbies, and alcohol (I needed something to keep my sanity at this point).

              It looked and felt much better afterwards and when I put it on the engine, NO hamsters! Little born-out-of-wedlock hamsters must have seen what I did to that belt and scurried home.

              Thanks again for the suggestion!

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              • #8
                Re: Accessory Belt Squeal - 3.4 - PS Pump question

                Glad it worked for you. I need to do this to my wife's van, it has a hamster problem too.
                2002 Silver Firebird A4<br />T-Tops, Leather, Y87, W68, Chrome Wheels<br />Bone Stock

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                • #9
                  Re: Accessory Belt Squeal - 3.4 - PS Pump question

                  Update and fix... maybe:

                  Okay... I spoke too soon, and perhaps still am. But after cleaning off the belt, it ran fine for a day or two then started squealing again.

                  What I noticed after looking at it hard I notice the belt at the water pump was running closer to the front of the pully then it had before (there was an 1/8" of shiny metal behind the belt on the pully where it used to track). After some more looking I found that the relatively new alternator pully was aimed right where the belt was on the pully (checked this with a straight edge on the front of the pully).

                  About then I remembered how hard it was to install that alternator 6,000 miles ago - the bolts just didn't seem to want to line up right. Hmmm. Took the alternator out and realized that there was no way to get it to fit right so the pulley would line up correctly. Back to the Autozone (why, just why can't I buy my parts at Napa for once?), and swapped it out (one of those lifetime warranty deals), and when the new one went in, the bolts slipped right in and the belt was tracking back on the water pump where it used to (perhaps a little further back, but we'll see how that affects things).

                  I'll post again if the squeak comes back, but for those with squeaky belts, check the alignment of all the pullies on the serpentine belt. This one seemed to be a "defective" alternator, or one that just didn't mount right. You might be able to shim slightly off accessory to get things in line.



                  Keywords: squealing belt, squeaky belt, noisy belt, hamsters, glazed belt, belt squeal, belt squeak, squeaky pully, squealing pully, belt alignment

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