Engine Squeak! Used WD40, made worse? Need Help
 

Hey Guys,
I am in the Navy stationed in England. Over the last 2 weeks or so we have gotten like 15 inches of snow. So I've spent the last few weeks pulling guys out of ditches and running the truck through some serious puddles.

A couple of weeks ago the engine developed a lite squeal that at start up that would go away after the motor warmed up. I attributed this to it being so dang cold and running through so much water. I got tired of that and decided to do some maintenance this morning.

I washed the motor by using some simple green and hosing her down like I have always done. After that I sprayed some WD40 on all the pulleys figuring they needed some lube, the engine has developed a Gawd awful squeal that hasn't gotten any better. On teh up side my initial squeal seems to have gone away, however this new noise is terrible and doesn't go away.

Does anyone have any suggestions what might be causing this? The guys at the local garage seem to think too much WD40 got on the belt and the only way to fix it is to replace the entire belt. Problem is everything has to be done through mail order here since there are no REAL auto parts stores around here. So trial and error isn't really an option and my wife refuses to ride with me until I fix the noise.

Any ideas?

It does sound like the fan belt, I would start ordering a new one as that was most likely what was squealing in the first place which means it's worn out. for now I would suggest cleaning it or you can try some wax, turn the car on & hold a crayon on both sides of the belt for a little bit, may help untill you get a new one.

Thanks, I tried to rub the belt down with some soap, man I didn't realize it was so tight in there. My truck only has 25k miles on it, is that too soon for a belt to go? It has been through some pretty large extremes in weather. And we only have one serpentine belt right? Most of the noise now seems to originate by the power steering pump. But that is fine, no noise change when steering, plenty of fluid etc.

Thanks for your help, I really do appreciate it!

Remove the belt, wash it with dish detergent on both sides, clean all the pulley surfaces, (you could use brake cleaner on a rag) then put the belt back on. If you do this I doubt the wd 40 will be left. Serpintine belts that have small cracks that run across the belt are considered OK but cracks that run along a rib (not across) should be replaced. Also a belt that is badly glazed or frayed should be replaced. It's common for the belts to last 50K miles so I doubt yours is bad already. If you get a new on save the old one, it would surly be better than no belt out on the trail in an emergency!

Thanks man! So you think some excess WD or simple green got on the belt and is creating the noise. Excellent idea about the spare belt

Probably so. The belt may be slightly glazed. If you think the power steering pulley is where the noise is comming from check the pulley once the belt is off. It may be glazed as well. You can take a piece of scotchbrite and clean it up if the pulley is glazed. A good source of scotchbrite is on a dish sponge with a cleaning pad side (it's usually green or blue schotchbrite material).

I hope this works for you. I salute you, thanks for representing our country overseas!

I would go easy with the WD40. That also works as a degreaser.

No Problem Sir! Thank you very much for your kind words! I love my job and I love what I am able to do, I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Get a new belt....I had the same problem with my 2008 Alpha...started out as an intermittent belt squeak. I put some belt dressing on it and it got worse. I then washed the belt dressing off with a degreaser type of cleaner and the squeek went away at idle but was real bad while driving. I took it to the dealer and they replaced the belt. The service manager said that the part number on the belt had changed so they must be making it out of a newer (different) compound than the original belt.........hope this helps you!