I am having an issue trying to quiet a squealing serpantine belt. Twice I have replaced the belt and tensioner. I have sprayed all of the rollers one at a time with lubricant trying to find out if one of them was causing the problem. When spraying the roller, I was careful not to get any on the belt. They all spin and the noise doesn't go away. If I spray the belt, it quites down for almost a minute and then starts up again. I try listening to it but can't pinpoint where the noise is coming from.

Is there a way to isolate the problem or do I just replace each roller one at a time until the sound goes away. It looks like some rollers are easy to replace while some others may be harder.

The belt does run air conditioning.

 

Yes the belt runs the the AC. Are you sure that you are getting a belt with the correct number of ribs on it compared to what the pulleys have?

What kind of finish is on the back of the belt? If it's shiny, I would be willing to bet, that you are slipping over the water pump, and that's the squeal you are hearing. One option is to replace with a gator back belt, or you can take a piece of sand paper and VERY gently take the gloss off of the belt back. I do this with the engine running, and apply light pressure to the back side of the belt between the Alt pulley and the Tension pulley.

 

go get some 3M silicone paste. I got mine from a local auto parts store.

http://www.amazon.com/3M-08946/dp/B0015PI34O

i had the same issue and a ASE buddy showed me this stuff. just put a spot about the size of a dime on both sides of the belt and start it up and that should kill the problem i had to do mine again after a few miles but it hasn't come back yet.