Problems with the alternator Belt

[Knebel]

Hi

i have an issue with my alternator belt. The belt is just a couple months old and I re-tensioned yesterday.

I started the car today and it immediately starts squealing REALLY bad, along with a rubber smell. I shut it off and noticed that the belt was HOT, so was the Fan and the Alternator Pulley.
I loosened the belt a bit and tried again, same problem PLUS I see on my Ampmeter in the car, that its not giving out any Voltage while running. I removed the Belt and checked if the Pulleys spin freely, which they all do. Alternator and Fan Pulley are easy to turn by hand. Anyone know what happened there? Did my alternator die overnight?


Thank you for any thoughts on this!

 

[MrMoparCHP]

Did the alternator spin?

I keep my belts loose to not put loading on the water pump or power steering pump, long as they do the job they are tight enough, basicaly I hold the alternator in place with a couple fingers while tightening it. It almost never squeals.

Alan

 

[Husky]

Hi

i have an issue with my alternator belt. The belt is just a couple months old and I re-tensioned yesterday.

I started the car today and it immediately starts squealing REALLY bad, along with a rubber smell. I shut it off and noticed that the belt was HOT, so was the Fan and the Alternator Pulley.
I loosened the belt a bit and tried again, same problem PLUS I see on my Ampmeter in the car, that its not giving out any Voltage while running. I removed the Belt and checked if the Pulleys spin freely, which they all do. Alternator and Fan Pulley are easy to turn by hand. Anyone know what happened there? Did my alternator die overnight?


Thank you for any thoughts on this!

Was it OK before you re-tensioned the belt? A belt will generally only squeal if it is either loose of misaligned. The ammeter does not display volts by the way, just the load current to and from the battery. Given all pulleys turn freely by hand I can only suggest there is a problem with the belt or pulleys. Try wiping the pulley grooves with some solvent in case some grease or oil is present (also check belt for same) then retention belt to specs.

 

[Bryan]

I would suspect one of these things'
1. Your belt is "crazed" now from getting overheated and is slipping when the pulleys speed up and slow down.
2. The belt is the wrong width, and is catching in the pulley, or a pulley is pinched or misaligned.
3. Your alternator or water pump bearings are failing, getting hot and dragging at speed. If your needle is not showing any movement, it could be the alternator.

 

[Knebel]

The new belt squealed before, when accelerating after cold start. I am tempted to just go get a new alternator from the store and drop it in....

Ok well, the meter dosent move when engine is on. and it seemed like the alternator pulley wasnt spinning but when i took off the belt it did spin freely.

 

[65sporty]

usually when the belt squeals its too loose, the slipping is causing your hot belt and pulley. tighten the belt. is your battery fully charged? if not and alt is putting out alot of amps to recharge and the belt is not tight enough it will squeal bad. hope this helps

 

[Knebel]

Thank you guys for all the help. I just replaced the alternator and lined up the pulleys and the squeal is gone, even with a fairly loose belt. The ampmeter shows some more steady movement too. Bummer, I had actually planned on filling the tank for that money