00 Caravan impossible squeaky belt or bearing
#1
10-14-2011, 04:31 PM
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00 Caravan impossible squeaky belt or bearing
I want to outline all I've done so far. This is driving me nuts. So much online about this topic but no real solutions.
Terrible squeaky noise coming from something on the serpentine belt. I have a 3.0L engine.
So far i have replaced the alternator, belt tensioner, idle pulley, and the belt itself.
The sound isn't so much a belt squeak sound as it sounds like a bearing or something not spinning quite right. Like an electric popcorn maker.
The noise happens all the time. Sometimes it dissipates after several miles and the car is warmed up.
If I squirt any sort of fluid on the belt, it quiets down right away, but then reappears a minute afterward. A lubricant throws the belt off. Water stops the noise and doesn't throw the belt off.
Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
Sure would like my van to stop squeaking like hell.
Terrible squeaky noise coming from something on the serpentine belt. I have a 3.0L engine.
So far i have replaced the alternator, belt tensioner, idle pulley, and the belt itself.
The sound isn't so much a belt squeak sound as it sounds like a bearing or something not spinning quite right. Like an electric popcorn maker.
The noise happens all the time. Sometimes it dissipates after several miles and the car is warmed up.
If I squirt any sort of fluid on the belt, it quiets down right away, but then reappears a minute afterward. A lubricant throws the belt off. Water stops the noise and doesn't throw the belt off.
Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
Sure would like my van to stop squeaking like hell.
#3
10-15-2011, 10:13 AM
Join Date: Oct 2011
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I don't think changing the water pump will help at all.
Another fun detail to note:
When I put water on the belt, the noise stops immediately, but returns after the water has evaporated.
As an experiment today about an hour ago, I put oil (from an oilcan) on the ribbed side of the belt. Small drops as the belt turned (engine on). Until now I have only used a lubricant in spray form spraying it all over the belt covering both the flat side and the ribbed side which made it slip off. The oil drops on the ribbed side made it quiet, and I let it sit and idle for about 20 minutes without the sound coming back.
This experiment leads me to conclude that the problem is the belt after all, or some alignment problem of the belt. However, I can't see how to fix it when I've replaced nearly everything the belt spins around, as well as the belt itself.
Another fun detail to note:
When I put water on the belt, the noise stops immediately, but returns after the water has evaporated.
As an experiment today about an hour ago, I put oil (from an oilcan) on the ribbed side of the belt. Small drops as the belt turned (engine on). Until now I have only used a lubricant in spray form spraying it all over the belt covering both the flat side and the ribbed side which made it slip off. The oil drops on the ribbed side made it quiet, and I let it sit and idle for about 20 minutes without the sound coming back.
This experiment leads me to conclude that the problem is the belt after all, or some alignment problem of the belt. However, I can't see how to fix it when I've replaced nearly everything the belt spins around, as well as the belt itself.
Last edited by 00going; 10-15-2011 at 03:12 PM.
#4
10-16-2011, 02:15 PM
When my mom bought a 2000 caravan it started squeeling a few days later so I took it back and the mechanic showed me something I've never seen before, he grabbed a piece of sandpaper and ran it lightly along the back of the belt while running and the noise went away almost immediately(be really careful that you dont get any fingers caught). The back of the belt gets slightly glazed.