I HAD TO REPLACE MY FAN BELT ABOUT A MONTH AGO. A DAY OR TWO AFTER I RAPLACED IT, I STARTED TO NOTICE A LITTLE SQUEEL THAT GOT LOUDER AND LOUDER. I REPLACED THE IDLER PULLEY, THAT WAS NOT IT. I THEN REPLACED ONLEY THE TENSIONER PULLEY AND NOT THE ARM, THAT DID NOT SEEM TO BE THE CULPRIT EITHER. I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DIAGNOSE ANY OF THE PULLEYS AND I DON'T WANT TO REPLACE ANYTHING THAT I CANNOT RETURN IF IT IS NOT BROKEN. I AM OUT OF IDEAS AND I NEED SOME HELP.[sm=headbang.gif]

 

Depending on what kind of belt tensioning system you have you might have--manual or automatic, if it was manual you might have overtensioned the belt and putting too much side load on the water pump bearing to the point of it squeeling. This is a common issue for those that don't know this can happen. If this is what has happened, eventually your water pump will start to weep out of the weep hole on it's case and you will notice coolant if you let it run over the garage floor. If this is what happened, you might need a new water pump, the seals might hold out for a while but the bearing now likely has a score mark on it.

--Matt

Also--lots of times when water pump bearing squeel louder and louder like this, they eventually stop squeeling--this is I think when the coolant starts to leak out at enough flow to lubricate the bearing to the point where it stops squeeling, don't make the mistake of thinking the problem has fixed itself.

 

Mine did that when the waterpump bearing got soo loose that the entire pully was at a angle, and it made a squeek...

Take the belt off, grab the fan ot the water pump pulley and feel if it goes side to side. Mine was very noticeable, and you could hear the clunk.
Dont let it go, mine got to the point where the impeller was digging into the waterpump houseing.

 

water pump if noise is related to engine

 

Weak spring in tensioner : he said he replaced only the pulley and not the tensioner arm. A lot of times once you disturb the tensioner when replacing the belt - it won't hold the proper tension after that.

 

something's out of alignment, or else the belt has just jumped out of its track. remove the belt and check each pulley for back and forth play and also compare it to the other pulleys position. also spin each pulley, it should turn with little/no resistence, but not be extremely loose. most of the pulleys have a lip, and the belt lays between them. these dictate the path the belt must take. the back side of the belt travels over the inner water pump pulley, without any guides. if all the ridge pulleys are fine, your water pump bearing/pulley may be coming apart. it should be firm with no back/forth just like the others. my water pump bearing went out violently and the pulley cocked sideways and click, clacked, squealed, and banged and stalled the engine.

edit.. also the tensioner pulley/spring arm is responsible for holding the belt tight. if not tight, it will slip and squeal. tensioners do need replacement every 5-7 years. about $50-60 and not too hard. i've replaced my tensioner/arm/spring thing, but never my idler pulley. they seldom go bad.

...more..

I FOUND A CRACK IN MY TENSIONER ARM.
you should probably replace the entire tensioner assy. about $60-65 at autozone.

I HAVE NOTICED LATELY THAT WHEN YOU TRY TO GO FROM A STOP, THE TRUCK WILL SPUTTER A LITTLE BIT.
see if water pump turns freely with belt off. if so, this is a different problem.

I ALSO NOTICED THAT MY WATER PUMP PULLEY MOVES BACK AND FORTH LIKE IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO.
IF THE PULLEY IS BAD, WOULD MY TRUCK START OVERHEATING. I HAVE YET TO SEE ANY OVERHEATING OR FLUCTUATION IN TEMPERATURE. I ALWAYS HAVE MY EYE ON THE GUAGES. THEY ARE THERE FOR A REASON RIGHT?
truck will not necessarily overheat as water pump starts to wear out. it will only overheat if/when coolant leaks out.

water pump pulley should be stable with little to no in/outmovement. 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch might be considered normal. any more is 'worn out'. a water pump is generally a gradual wear out, where its acceptable for awhile, and then eventually begins to roar, or leak coolant, or eats up the belt, or begins to rub against the casting, or completely eats the bearing. if you can get your belt to stabilize, you might can put this off for awhile, but you'll need to eventually replace it. they are usually good for about 6-8 years or 100k miles. new one is about $65, but its a good bit of work.
see this. https://dodgeforum.com/m_735291/tm.htm
there is also a DIY at the top of 2nd gen.

 

well, i am in a bit of a pickle now. i replaced the whole tensioner, pulley and arm. the squeel was not as loud after that. i replaced the water pump also. you could see where the impeler had been scraping the housing. there is still a squeel thoug! it is not as constant or as loud. anyway, i am still boggled and don't know what to do. the squeel does not happen when i use my ac. and it sounds like it could be coming from either the ac or the alternator. i am lost, frustrated, broke, and i amwriting a country song about it. what to do, what to do.[sm=WTFsgign.gif][sm=smiley35.gif]

 

I recently replaced a bad tensioner myself and shortly started hearing an on and off squeel. I thought it was the idler as well and replaced it. No luck it was still there. I believe I have tracked it down to the a/c clutch. I guess my next step is to replace the clutch bearing. Check it out you may be having the same problem.

 

is there any way that this squeel is not related to any pulley? it is definitely coming from the motor. it does sound like it is a pulley, but could it be something else? when istart my truck, you can hear it a little bit. when i rev it up, it is more constant and audible. and when you are diving, it is all together louder.

 

I just had this problem on my grand cherokee...check your alternator...that's what my problem was. Odd things was...when we took the belt off and spun the water pump...it would moan....weird, but apparently my dad replaced the alternator and problem solved (i'm 5 hrs away at school). What's even weirder was the volt-meter was fine until i went to drive back to school, then dropped to zero and i had to take that back to the house.