glenaygal Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Hi, Just come back from a road trip to northern Spain . We have developed a squeaking belt which only makes a noise on starting and then stops. But on the last day the van became difficult to start. Don't actually know if the fuel pump is belt driven or in the tank. Any advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 glenaygal - 2018-07-23 4:38 PM Hi, Just come back from a road trip to northern Spain . We have developed a squeaking belt which only makes a noise on starting and then stops. But on the last day the van became difficult to start. Don't actually know if the fuel pump is belt driven or in the tank. Any advice? It would have been helpful if you could have included essential details such as make, year and model of vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 It sounds like the alternator belt needs adjusting, if it's slipping the battery won't be charging fully and will not have enough power to start the engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasnt Me Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Hi welcome to the forum. You might need to supply some more information I.e vehicle type and engine. If your belt is squeaky it is likely to be slipping and if it slipping then it won't be charging your battery properly. That will likely be the reason your engine is struggling to start. You need to get the tension of the belt checked, this will either be a spring tensioner or one that requires adjustment. Then get the output of the alternator check bolts and amps. If its a diesel, you will probably have a fuel pump to move the fuel from the tank to the engine and then one driven by a timing belt/chain to provide the required fuel pressure for the engine. If you have a petrol it is normally one pump in the tank. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Billggski - 2018-07-23 4:43 PM It sounds like the alternator belt needs adjusting, if it's slipping the battery won't be charging fully and will not have enough power to start the engine. Agreed, but if the battery is beyond it's best years maybe it is time to check that too as a low battery puts an even greater strain on the belt especially at start up. Do you carry a spare belt? Maybe it's time to replace the drive belt too as that would be better than it breaking on a cold wet night miles from anywhere, which is what they are designed to do!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Drive belts that have been slipping can become "polished" on the. Contact surface. If after adjustment the belt is still noisy rub some soap on the contact surface, this will normally stop the noise. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Sometimes a squeaky belt can be stopped by a light touch of talcum powder. it may be a loose belt or the alternator starting to bind on its bearings causing the belt slip and squeak. Either way it needs investigation. Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 In all my years I have never come accross the idea that talcum powder or soap might help a squealing drive belt, so please forgive my ignorance as although I can see how they might quieten it, but how do they provide more grip to reinstate the performance? That's always assuming you can gain enough access to apply talc or soap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 You can buy an aerosol of belt dressing , stops squeal and extends belt life. Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandncaravan Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Tracker, I agree it does sound an odd thing to do, and I think it is. About 18 months ago my Car had a squealing alternator drive belt and the garage replaced it with a new Gates belt. It still squealed. After much agro, including the garage fitting a new Alternator and pulley, I did as I was advised and used WD40, which quietened the belt. However, it did so by lubricating it so it slipped more, but did it quietly!!! Charge rate was right down to almost zero, as might be expected. After a few days the noise came back, worse than before. Just as described in the link below, the belt degraded fast. This link from Belt specialist Dayco : http://www.daycoproducts.com/why-belt-dressing-is-not-a-solution-to-quiet-a-noisy-belt tells you the pitfalls and issues with dressing a belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 The last time I had a squeaky belt was on my Transit based motorhome. Tried everything and the main Ford dealer basically repeated the action I had already taken until the mechanic noticed rust on the pulley. The pulley at the end of the crankshaft was replaced and that cured it. Thinking about it afterwards I live near the sea and the motorhome was laid up each winter on my drive - ideal conditions for the formation of rust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Thanks Allan for that interesting article. My experience with soap is back in the days of neoprene belts. Dayco as a world leader in auto components would certainly know better than me. I bow to their superior knowledge. Thanks for setting the debate back on track. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandncaravan Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Mike88, mine was a worn Alternator pulley, probably as a result of the vehicles 130,000 miles covered and a long term slipping belt in the past. But when they fitted the replacement Alternator and Pulley, they didn't tension the Belt properly, so it continued to squeal making me think we still had the same problem. I just tensioned it as per the manual and everything was fine. Having recently replaced the Serpentine belt on my slightly newer Mitsubishi Grandis which was so easy and done, in 15 minutes, I now wonder if the garage are so used to modern Serpentine belts with a built in pre-tensioner that they had 'lost the knack' of tensioning an older style belt setup, like on my previous 16 year old Spacewagon? Tracker is right that the load on a motorhome Alternator will be the greatest just after start up and even a fairly healthy set-up may squeal if the battery bank is poor, overlarge or both. If Aircon is fitted, that will be an even greater load, so try not to activate the aircon until about five minutes after starting. I knew the Alternator/serpentine belt on my recently acquired Grandis was tired and needed replacement, but was slowly working through a major service, where I considered Brakes, Oil, etc more important. A new belt was on the list and I had already bought a replacement when it failed driving out of a supermarket parking space. I was very lucky that the broken bits didn't break anything as they flailed around, nor did they get wound around anything or jam, but that has caused an expensive experience for some. Suggest, you get it fixed as a matter of greater urgency than I applied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 You could try a web search on ""talcum fan belt "". And it would explain better than I could ! Back in the dark days , long before the Internet was a twinkle in some ones eye, I tried the talc trick on my mini. Managed to drop the Johnson baby talc between fan and radiator, A steep learning curve on mini engine cooling system ! Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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