Damn fan belt

[Bax]

This is giving me the ****s, much like the glovebox.

My fan belt is intermittently noisy. I checked it the other night and it was tight, hardly any play when I pressed down on it. So I loosened it, noise went away - but came back - generally only when cold/under revs.

So what are we leaning towards, belt still not right, or maybe the bearings in the pulley are rat crap. I just assumed if it was the bearings they'd be going constantly? Not just under high revs and when cold.

Someone tell me.
And is there a correct tension on the belt?

[bangers]

try some of that spray to help fan belts grip.

[commsirac]

candle wax rubbed over it is a remedy ive heard...

Do you have a clutch fan? Generally the first rev out when cold still has the fan under minimum slip(maximum load on the fan belt). It may simply not squeak when hot due to no load being on it, as well as the problem of the distance between the pulleys shrinking just a little when the motor is cold(more than the fan belt itself will contract as it never gets as hot as the motor)

[andyman]

is the rubber hard, if the rubber is hard it time to say good bye, try to use some sticky spray on lubricant

[Hillerus]

Why not just put a new belt on? In my opinion, if the belt has worn in the "V" to the point where adjusting the belt will not reduce slippage, why not just throw a fresh belt on there?

[jatsvl]

do you have 1 belt or 3 belts ? a bottle of water with a small hose attached and poor it on each belt when the noise is there the noise will go away this will tell you which belt or pulley is making the noise.
then, a new belt/pulley, tension, or BELT GRIP, belt grip is a bit messy so if like a clean engine do not use it!

[Bax]

Okay, answering questionis. 2 Belts - definitely know which one it is.
It's a new belt.
I've tried candle wax.
Have a clutch fan, it's brand new.

I think that's all of them.

I might just go grab another new belt anyway just in case this one is glazed. But I'm a little confused as it's been on there a week and started squeaking.

[VL Berlina 5speed]

ive been taught by the old man to use salt besides the soap and wax etc

if the belt has absorbed moisture the wax and sprays wont do anything, sprinkle a little salt on the inside edge of the belt so its squashed into the pully and belt,
this will asorb the moisture out of it and should stop the sound,

give it a shot but dont go poring a kilo of salt on it, a pinch or two will be fine

[Bax]

Cheers I'll give it a go tonight, I'll more than likely take it back to the mechanic tomorrow and tell him to fix it if it's still going.

Thanks.

[harry3]

'dry lube' can help but is the top of the belt sitting down in the pulley groove? if so its the wrong size belt, the top of the belt should be slightly higher than the top of the groove in the pulley

[commsirac]

Okay, answering questionis. 2 Belts - definitely know which one it is.
It's a new belt.
I've tried candle wax.
Have a clutch fan, it's brand new.

I think that's all of them.

I might just go grab another new belt anyway just in case this one is glazed. But I'm a little confused as it's been on there a week and started squeaking.

Ive found new belts have a higher tendency to squeak, and if you have a brand new clutch fan, its going to be putting a much higher load on the belt when cold than the old one. If you say rev the car out to 3000rpm when it is cold you probably hear the squeak? and it continues to do this on every gear change? Try holding the revs at that level or higher for at least 15 secs and see if this unlocks the clutch fan(if that is the what happening).

Its also possible that the clutch fan you have installed is defective......ie it operates at minimum slip all of the time.

Personally, I never take an engine over 2000rpm until the temp gauge is in the normal range.

[Panama]

the top of the belt should be slightly higher than the top of the groove in the pulley

sorry mate, no way. either flush with the v groove at the highest. usually the correct belt will fit 1mm or so below the v ridge on the pulley. you run the risk of the belt being thrown if you have it sitting above the v groove in the pulley because there is less area to guide it.

[mag]

ive been taught by the old man to use salt besides the soap and wax etc

if the belt has absorbed moisture the wax and sprays wont do anything, sprinkle a little salt on the inside edge of the belt so its squashed into the pully and belt,
this will asorb the moisture out of it and should stop the sound,

give it a shot but dont go poring a kilo of salt on it, a pinch or two will be fine

Yep sounds strange but Sean told me this a good while back and it does WORK

[burkler]

if you have changed you belts and it still slips. take you v-pulley off and cheack the sheaves for wear run a datum edge on the inside of the v-pulley sheave hold it up to some light and see if it is worn. usally if the v-pulley is worn the belt wont grab it will just slip untill the belt gets hot and grabs.

[maxpower QLD]

Hey there fellas . I'm not sure if this will help or not but have u tried changing the cluch and fan ? for the past week the clutch in my fan was sqealling like a mother f....er and at first my friends and i thought it was a fan belt so i replaced it with a new one and it still sounded the same so i swaped the fan with the one in my other VL and it fixed it . No more noise . Hope that helps

[Bax]

Just picking off a few of the above points, pulleys I haven't checked but I'm near positive that they're clean, they did have surface rust but that disappeared with the first belt. I'm on my second belt now and still noisey. You can tell when the belt squeaks and the pulley squeaks though, its a different noise.

New clutch fan too unfortunately.

[maxpower QLD]

Hmmm ok then well if you've instaled a fresh fanbelt the only other things that i can think of would be
1. check the other belts like the
aircon or power stearing belt posibly ?
2. bearings in alternator,water pump, power
stearing pump,bearing in aircon belt tentioner

I had the same problem with my XR6 before i sold it . I ended up replacing every belt , bearing , tensioner , that was on the front of the engine with new parts . It was a costly prick of a job but it fixed the problem.

[Bax]

I guess my question is how hard is it to replace the bearings.

I've only got two belts on there at the moment as aircon isn't installed. I'm thinking about taking the power steering belt off for a few minutes to see if stays. But I'm 100% positive that it's the power steering compressors pulley.

[maxpower QLD]

The bearings in the alternator are easy if u have a few tools handy as for the power steering pump well it would be cheaper to get a good second hand one as i've never really had a go rebuilding a nissan one. If you suspect the power steering pump is the cause then take the belt off and take it for a drive otherwise take all the belts off and check the bearings on water pump , power steering pump and alternator pulleys for excessive movement .

[maxpower QLD]

The pulleys should spin freely when spun by hand ? well the ones on both my VL's spin freely .