"Belt Dressing?" Squeaks even LOUDER!
 

hey forum,
so i was shopping at walmart like i usually do every week.
took a stroll down the auto section, and was just killing time waiting for my sister.
then i came across this one spray? something like WD-40

Its called Prestone Belt dressing.
it says itll kill the squeaks and chatter in the engine.

my car does squeak just a little, and i thought it was going to be a good investment for my fc to run clean.

the direction tells me to spray the dressing around the area where the belt and the rings meets

So i sprayed the belt dressing around the belt and the rings, If im correct, it was about 5 rings. (i know its not called "Rings")

the engine was suddenly really quiet!
and i was happy, and i drove to work.

after work, i turned my engine on, and wtf?
the squeaks in my engine is so loud, never had this problem in my engine before.
and I found out that its the one ring that makes it squeak, because if i spray that one ring the noise stops.

this happens everytime.
I spray it, its good for one run, then i turn my car back on, it squeaks.

so these days i use the belt dressing EVERYTIME i turn the car on
but I dont want to!

do you guys have any clue what this dressing did to my belts?
should i try replacing some part?
oh i dont know. help me guys
thanks

https://www.rx7club.com/picture.php?...ictureid=32555
Oh how much i hate this thing :wallbash:
https://www.rx7club.com/picture.php?...ictureid=32554

how is your belt tension?

also the condition of the belts. Belt dressing can not save belts that are already glazed.

Im not sure how belt dressing differs from other products called belt conditioner as called by another company.

hmm, so hyper your saying it might be the belt it self?
but if it's the belt, why and how does the dressing make it more noisy?

I'll check it out and update the thread.
thanks

oh and one more info,
I might of sprayed some dressing on the pulley and other parts around it, while I was spraying it.
will that make anything different?

The "rings" as you call them are actually supposed to be called pulleys. Belts go around pulleys.
Sometimes two belts go around one pulley. It's called a Double Sheave pulley.

So up top, you have the alternator. It's all the way on top, you can't miss it.
Alternator generates electricity to charge up your battery and run all your lights and electrical accessories.

Below that, right behind the center of the fan, you have the water pump. It is important for this to run properly as it pumps the water to cool off your engine. If it fails you will overheat your engine and as such, it gets a double sheave pulley so that if one belt dies, you can still run it with another.

To the right side of the car (Left if you're standing in front of the car.) You have an Air pump. It pumps air into the exhaust system to clean up emissions and provide oxygen to the catalytic converter.. many people remove this when they remove the catalytic converter. (You can not do this since you live in California.)

To the left side of the car (Right if you're standing in front of the car.) are your options. Down low is the Air Conditioner Compressor. Up top is Power Steering. Your car may have none of these, one, or both.

Finally, down low you have the main pulley. It is on the crank shaft or Eccentric shaft as they're called on these engines. It's a multi-sheave pulley.



So, which one stops squeaking when you spray it?

I'll bet it's a bad bearing in one of the tensioning pulleys.

It could be a bad bearing in the alternator or power steering tensioner.

Remove each of those belts and spin the pulley by hand to check for noise.

If you are then SURE that each one spins silently, replace all your belts but first clean out all the pulley grooves with solvent and 300 grit sandpaper to remove any crap.

I always use some brake cleaner to diagnose which belt is squealing. A quick shot makes things temporarily sticky again. It'll quiet up the whole trip, but once things cool down, it loses the tackyness and begins squealing again.

I've never had any luck with belt dressing. Any mechanic in a can sort of thing that's supposed to fix your car just doesn't work. So listen up everyone. No more Bar's stop leak, belt dressing, or in-tank fuel injector repair chemicals. If you believe that any of them actually work, then you're seriously mistaken.

Aaron's got it; you need to clean your pulleys and replace the belts.

Since the dressing temporarily stopped the squeak I doubt you've got any serious problems with bearings or idlers. I tried the belt crap in a can a few years ago on my vette and found myself "hooked" on the juice just like you.

The noise is caused by sliding friction. No, the belts not slipping. But the surfaces of the V's slide relative to the pulley as they come into contact with it making a squeaking sound. It occurs as a result of glaze buildup. Kinda like rosin on a violin bow only the sound isn't nearly as pleasant.

Throw that belt dressing in the trash. It's awful. Try a squirt of Armor All for a temporary fix (it'll last a little longer than dressing) until you can get a good quality belt. Goodyear Gatorback belts have a good reputation in this area. There's something about the compound they use that eliminates glazing.

EDIT: Next time I change my belts I think I'll try scuffing the pulley grooves too. That's a good idea Aaron!

Not only scuff the pulley, but also scuff up the belt surface if it's glazed...

Some rough grit sandpaper stapled to a stick of wood works great for this.

I'm betting it's just a loose belt for OP.

ArmorAll is a horrible idea for a belt...it'll seep through the open sides of the vee and begin to delaminate the layers.
Better to live with some squeal than accelerate the demise of the belt.

It only takes a couple of drops. The stuff quickly disperses over the entire surface area.

https://www.rx7club.com/picture.php?...ictureid=32592
this one!
https://www.rx7club.com/picture.php?...ictureid=32591
the one closest to the camera

power steering

thanks arron cake, will do so.
the sand paper with a chopsticks idea seems very clever,
however, if i take off the belt, its a good idea to replace it while at it right?
i wouldnt know if its good or bad any ways.

ill do the procedure and update on it

thanks

made a video.
dunno how to upload it,
so here the link
enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkwfVthQcYM

Your belt is loose just tighten it up. or it is old and need to be change
The reason why the belt dressing is making it squeaks even Louder is that it is making the belt slip more because there is a layer of lube in between the belt and the pulley

To check if the belt is bad
just go by this
http://www.import-car.com/Content/Si...0000014685.jpg
http://www.import-car.com/Content/Si...0000014686.jpg

first to tighten up the belt you have to loosen up this bolt
http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/t...1-03_757-1.jpg

To tighten up the belt use this screw
Attachment 715906

and this is what a good belt looks like i just put this on
Attachment 715907

"Just one second...[stops dead in his tracks], *beep beep* :awesome:"

:rofl: :lol:

https://www.rx7club.com/picture.php?...ictureid=32555

The answer is in the picture, bro. Tell Jesus to come out and fix that shyt.

On a serious note, its amazing how well marketing a worthless product works...something about walking around a store looking at shiny things makes people buy useless crap that they don't need. "let me buy x product to fix that problem I don't really have!" :lol2:

A V belt setup is as simple as it gets. Remove belt, check pulleys for play and roughness, replace belts and reinstall. Ask a forum member for help if you need it.

I had a similar problem with a serpentine belt at work, did a power steering recall on a C class and spilled an assload of fluid on the belt. Thing would not stop squeaking, even though I cleaned the crap out of the belt. Put some lubrication paste on it (for sunroofs) and it went away completely. Its a creamy colored paste, looks like multi purpose grease. Might want to try it out.

My father is convinced that every mechanic, every time, is out to get him.
He'll spend money on any "mechanic in a bottle" fix before giving up and spending the money to have a pro fix it.
Or, he'll just ignore the problem and claim it's "normal".

[QUOTE=Gray90rx7na;10386003]Your belt is loose just tighten it up. or it is old and need to be change
The reason why the belt dressing is making it squeaks even Louder is that it is making the belt slip more because there is a layer of lube in between the belt and the pulley

To check if the belt is bad
just go by this
[IMG]
[IMG]

first to tighten up the belt you have to loosen up this bolt
[IMG]

To tighten up the belt use this screw
[IMG]

and this is what a good belt looks like i just put this on
[IMG]

really helpful answers and support guys, I'll do just that.
I'm going to try this myself, enstead of going to a shop and getting raped. Haha
hope I don't make it worst lol
anyways I appriciate it

Seems like a good excuse to ditch the power steering and convert to a manual rack;)

ooooh whaaat? manual rack,
I'll have to look into that :nod:
gracias

If you tighten the belt too much, you risk damaging bearings.
Check your belt before tightening it:

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1293538772

See where the yellow arrows are... Grab the belt and push with your fingers.

The bolt with the green arrow is 10mm... Lots of bolts in the RX-7 are 10mm actually.
It's be a good idea to get some metric sockets and a ratchet.

Sounds like a couple turns of that bolt should do the trick.

okay, so not too tight and not too loose.
I think im going to replace it this week sometimes.
ill update on it with some pictures.
thanks Pele

and here goes my noob questions.

1. is there a specific belt for our FCs? im trying to replace all of it, (3 belts right?)
like size or brand, i have no clue. i was going to just walk in pepboys and ask.

2. and like mentioned before, you stretch it out a little bit by pulling on it and do you just pull it between pulleys and connect it? or will that damage it.

if thats not right, teach me the method of installing pulley.

3. and then im done right? oh wait, do I need to buy any tool for aligning to pulley? or is that eye ballable.

Im not too experienced with mechanical stuff, so i have too much questions.
thanks guys