I just replaced the two serp belts on the left side of the engine (was not very easy to do by myself btw)

i am pretty sure i had the exact sizes, i got them from autozone, and they looked up everything for me.

i made sure i had the half inch or whatever tension in the belt before tightening the locking bolts

when i first start my car (after it's been off for a while) it drove fine for a couple days, but it's been getting colder and i noticed after long waits if i turn on the heating and ESPECIALLY the rear defroster + anything else even rolling the windows up or down it squeaks like no other.

i've heard it could just be the condensation from sitting there in the cold, but it never did that before i replaced the belts, and never did all last winter. any suggestions for making the squeak stop pertinently?

 

I'd recheck the tension ... the belts might have loosened up a bit ...

 

Yeah, the belt(s) need a bit more tension on them. **I was on crack when I typed what was in this portion** Your best bet is to just add a little more tension. It sounds to me as if the alternator belt is slipping and just needs a bit more tension there.

 

thanks, i figured that might have been the problem, the lower belt which i believe is connected to the pump?? i'm not sure is quite tensioned, however the top may be a little too lose for my car, i thought it was tight enough, but if i can't tighten it anymore (due to lack of proper tools) i guess i'll pay someone else to do a quick wrench job on it

 

No, don't do that. The alternator only needs to have a couple bolts loosened, then pried back to apply more tension and bolts tightened to lock it in place.
You know you can rent tools from Autozone, right? You are given your money back once you return the tool(s) too.
If you drive your car around the side of the building, you can adjust it really quick and then return the tools (they won't let you work on your car up front). That's how easy it is. lol

 

i have the serpentine belt tool, but it doesn't do sht for me because i cant get to the belt with it anyways, it smashes up against the inside of the engine compartment

so what i did before was i actually had to use a small wrench and cram my whole arm down in there and do it while in pain

i would need a really freaking big wrench and it would have to be the perfect size, it's only like 20 bucks to have someone else do it for me, so who cares right? i already saved like 500 dollars by doing **** to my car that the company told me they would do when i got my oil changed

 

if you havent gotten the squeeling noise figured out yet you can buy a belt conditioning spray that is supposed to prevent that and help maintain the life of the belt as well... if it does it while you are using something power, like the windows or something i would think it has something to do woth the alternator...

 

Belt spray is a bandaid at best ... fix the tension trouble the squeal will disappear

 

umm try a timing belt yeah that is by far worse and autozone is not know for knowing what the hell ur talking about had a few incedents wit them say oh we have the part and i get there and its not the ****in part i want so yeah u may not even have the right belt so double check with a dodge dealership don't buy there belt just ask a parts person or an acctual mechanic