very noisy fan belt

[Ron41]

Hi all, a couple of weeks ago I posted a thread about a squeeking sound coming from my fan belt whilst stationary at a set of lights or similar, I put some wet soap on the belt and it went away for a couple of days but now strangely enough it doesn't make a sound whilst stationary now but as I accellerate the sweeking sound gets louder, yesterday i put a lot of wet soap on it and the noise went away again but today its back again.
The fan belt is only a couple years old, could it be completely stuffed ?
as I know my original belt lasted about 8 years.
Is there a way of checking if the belt is nackered or could there be another reason for this awfull sqeeking noise.
I remember years ago a friend had the same model as mine and said he had to put a new timing chain in his at 100,000 klm's, mine has done 203,000 and never been changed yet, just a very wild uneducated guess but wondering if the wet soapy fan belt could take the strain of a nackered timing chain ?
I just don't know what to do, i wouldn't like changing the belt if it was something else causing it,[ money is tight on a pension]
appreciate any help.
thanks
Rony

[cander24]

If lubricating the belt takes the noise away then you shouldn't have to worry about your timing chain, id say that the problem still lies with your belt. Also its pretty uncommon for an ecotec timing chain to only last 100k, should do more than double that without a problem at all assuming everything else is kept in good order. I would be double checking that the belt is fitted correctly, as in all of the ribs are meshing correctly and are not one tooth out because if it is out of alignment this will cause it to squeal. Also I would not recommend using soap as a lubricant as it can tent to slip when under load, just like in you situation. The best stuff I have ever come across is in a green aerosol can made by crc and its called 'belt grip'. You just spray it on the ribbed side of the belt and it leaves a slightly sticky residue on it. Personally I would clean all of the soap off the belt and use this product instead.

[-=ApheX=-]

G'day mate,
Ok firstly just a quick mention about this belt, assuming we are talking about a ecotec V6, it's proper name is a serpentine belt and not a fan belt, and it don't connect to anything remotley associated with your fan...
Ok so that being said, having soap underneath your belt is only a short term fix for the squeaking noise, now there's a few reasons this belt could be doing it... eg the belt is on it's way out, there is a pully on the engine that's not spinning with the rest of the pullys, or there is water being sprayed on the pullys whilst the car is moving, or even grease on the under side of the belt as well..
I wold simply say replace it, there only about $10 from repco and there very easy to replace...
Also your timing chain would not be affected in anyway by the belt having soap on it, as the chain itself is consealed in the engine...

[hako]

G'Day Ron, I'd go with the above post (however belts are over $30 up here). While the belt is off I'd also check each pulley by hand to see if there is any resistance. Badly worn brushes in the alternator or bearings in one of the many pulleys can also cause a squeal.
My belt is about 7 years old, is pretty dry and cracked but is quiet.
Good Luck.

[Ron41]

Thanks everyone for your replies, I took the belt off and tried spinning each pulley, all of them ok except the pulley directly underneath the ignition coils is diffenatly making the noise I can hear, so can anyone tell me what to do now.

thanks guys

[Ron41]

I have been trying to find out about this pulley in my gregories manual, all i can see its called the " idler pully " in a diagram of the belt set up, its the top pulley as it has air con fitted, I guess it's a bearing making the noise but not sure if I will stuff anything up by un doing the nut that holds the pulley on, any help greatly appreciated.

[cander24]

If you have identified one pulley as the noise source then yes it will be the bearing in it that will most likely be dry and extremely worn. This needs to be replaced. Remove the belt and then the bolt that retains the pulley and remove it. Any auto place should keep replacements in stock as they are a pretty common fault and should be around $25. Its a straight remove and replace process.

[Ron41]

Thanks a lot mate, I will get into it now.
thanks again
Rony

[Ron41]

Just a quick update, I wacked on a new idler pulley and all went well for the rest of that day, thought it was fixed but the next day the dam sweaking returned, so i put a new belt on and she is running perfect now, so it turned out to be both things needed replacing, she is running pretty quite now, that bearing was really stuffed.

thanks for all your help guys