Is this noise the belts? Anything to be concerned about?

[DL4567]

For the past few months, my engine sounds like this when first started:

http://youtu.be/m91ux5ZN7pA


Consistently, that only last a few minutes, and when warmed up the squeaking is completely gone and it sounds normal like this:

http://youtu.be/9Xa8ljQXRlQ


Does that mean my belts need replacing or is it something else entirely? The belts are from late 2000 as far as I know. Water pump was replaced in 2007-ish.

[DMCMW Dave]

Real easy to isolate belt noise, when you hear is spray the belt with just about anything and see if the sound changes.

[Rich]

Start with Dave's test.

Depending on what you find you may opt to remove the A/C belt and test again. The A/C idler bearings are known to get noisy after some years, easy to fix if need be. That sound reminds me of one of those bearings on our car before replacement but it's tough to tell.

[DMC Fanatic]

I can't believe it but I'm hearing that same exact noise when the engine is first started and goes away after a few minutes. It sounds like it may be coming from the ac compressor on my car but not entirely sure. Please let me know if you find the problem.

[djdogbone]

My money is on the AC pulleys

[alexwolf1216]

Mine sounds the same. Lasts a few minutes, then its gone.

[DMCMW Dave]

Lift up the belt and spin the pulley. It should make no noise.

[DMC Fanatic]

I tried turning on the ac compressor while it was making the noise and that worked, but the noise came back when I turned the ac off. My ac pulley bearings and belts are brand new. Maybe it's the belt tension?

[djdogbone]

New bearings can still be bad. Who put them in? If they went in crooked or just made wrong....new does not equal good. I'd check the bearings again....they are under load so might not make noise when free but they should be smooth when spinning. The belt would be slipping only if there was drag... You can try to tighten the belt....

[David T]

New bearings can still be bad. Who put them in? If they went in crooked or just made wrong....new does not equal good. I'd check the bearings again....they are under load so might not make noise when free but they should be smooth when spinning. The belt would be slipping only if there was drag... You can try to tighten the belt....

If the noise disappears when you turn on the A/C the belt could be too loose, too tight, or the bearings in the clutch for the compressor are bad.

[Mark D]

Did you install the new pulley bearings yourself? If so, how tight were the bearings when you pressed them in? I'm talking specifically about the press fit between the outer race of the bearing and the inner surface of the pulley, not the motion of the bearing spinning.

It should take a conserable amount of force with a press to get the bearing seated inside the pulley...you should not be able to get it in and out with just your hands or tapping with a hammer, etc.

I had to replace one of the idler pulleys because the bearing was actually loose within the pulley and was impossible to press in tight. A new bearing alone did not solve the noise problem because the bearing would spin inside the pulley.

Dave told me this was fairly uncommon and usually the bearings just fail, but in my case both had failed. It may be something worth looking into if you are stumped and the squeaking continues.