My serpentine belt seems to be too tight, and I believe it's causing an awful squeal.
Quick summary: I've personally replaced several components connected to the serpentine belt — the tensioner, alternator, water pump. Along the way, a mechanic also replaced my serpentine belt when I gave the car to him for a little check-up. In the past, the belt was not overly difficult to place. Recently when I replaced the water pump, the belt was a real b****. My friend and I used one of those belt-replacement wrenches, pulled back as far as possible, and it was only after 1 hour of labor and with the grace of the Element-god that we eventually got the belt on. Now I have a squeal that is clearly related to the belt, which gets better after heating up and driving, but is otherwise terribly loud.
Here are my three guesses, but really hoping someone else knows better:
1) Belt is missized, following replacement by mechanic. Obviously I could take it off and measure against a proper one, but I don't want to take it off again! Are slightly off-sized belts common?
2) Could the tensioner be at the wrong tension? Thought these were auto tensioned but maybe something I don't know.
3) I replaced the engine mounts, all besides the rear mount. Is it possible that the engine is a bit "out of alignment", i.e., crooked, such that it's causing a little angle that widens the serpentine belt path?
Thank you anyone who has made it this far. My Element would not be alive if it weren't for this forum, so hoping you all can help me out once again.
Quick summary: I've personally replaced several components connected to the serpentine belt — the tensioner, alternator, water pump. Along the way, a mechanic also replaced my serpentine belt when I gave the car to him for a little check-up. In the past, the belt was not overly difficult to place. Recently when I replaced the water pump, the belt was a real b****. My friend and I used one of those belt-replacement wrenches, pulled back as far as possible, and it was only after 1 hour of labor and with the grace of the Element-god that we eventually got the belt on. Now I have a squeal that is clearly related to the belt, which gets better after heating up and driving, but is otherwise terribly loud.
Here are my three guesses, but really hoping someone else knows better:
1) Belt is missized, following replacement by mechanic. Obviously I could take it off and measure against a proper one, but I don't want to take it off again! Are slightly off-sized belts common?
2) Could the tensioner be at the wrong tension? Thought these were auto tensioned but maybe something I don't know.
3) I replaced the engine mounts, all besides the rear mount. Is it possible that the engine is a bit "out of alignment", i.e., crooked, such that it's causing a little angle that widens the serpentine belt path?
Thank you anyone who has made it this far. My Element would not be alive if it weren't for this forum, so hoping you all can help me out once again.
