it seems the pulley on my alternator is the cause of this really wierd and REALLY annoying squeaking noise coming from my engine.

ive deducted that its the alternator pulley because when it squeaks if i just do a tiny half spray of wd40 directly in the center of it, the squeak goes away instantly.

has this happened to anyone else?

 

mine squeaks as well but i haven't checked to see which belt it is. mine isnt so loud that it annoy's the crap out of me, (like a bad alt bearing) but it is really just a rythmic chirping at idle.

 

Not denying it might be the pulley, but when was the last time you changed the belt? What happens if you spray the belt, does the squeak go away?

 

would spraying the belt with wd40 be a good idea?

 

i thought about that too, so i try not to hit the belt at all, and just squirt the tiniest amount onto the pulley itself. seems to do the trick for at least a few hours.

willub and company: could be the alternator bearing? or is that an internal bearing that the spraying im doing would have no effect on?

 

If you get coolant on the pulley/belt, it'll squeak for quite a bit until the coolant is gone. It may take several days of driving for it to disappear completely. I'm unsure of the longterm effects of WD-40 on the belt, but I've sprayed it on the belt/pulley while running on more than one occassion (when coolant has gotten on the belt/pulley) and it works like a charm. No more squeaking.

~Ramy

 

oh oh, i think the coolant is my problem. gonna try the wd40 (a little bit) and see if that works.

 

i would consider it to either be a belt thats to tight, or that you have a pully out of alignment. if you havnt done anything with the pull or belt lately then its prob not a tension problem..

 

If the belt is dried out (very old) or contaminated, it will squeak. Does it sqeak loudly when you rev the engine after first starting it?
If it does that, it may be too loose.

Dave

 

Or the alternator bearings are fubar....

 

Ditto that. Check that it is not adjusted too tight.

Had the same problem, and loosened it up a bit. No more sqeak.

Consider too that that squeak may be a bearing, and there is added incentive to get it fixed.

 

If you spray wd40 on the belt and the noise goes away, that usually means you need to change the belts. Do not spray too much onto the belt, you might end up leaving resdiue on the pulleys and end up contaminating the new belt.