I found out the source of the squealing noise from the belt side - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

chenripp · 03-09-2008, 22:43

This noise came on about last November when it got cold.
Sometimes I tried belt dressing from Wal-mart and it works
for a while. And it will oame back someday. Usually when I drive
in a rain the noise became quite loud and inevitable. It is
really funny that the noise is weather dependent like some
chronic diseases from aged people.

Althought seemingly the noise has nothing with the horsepower
of car, but I really hate there is a cricket always there under
the hood which distracts me so much when I drive.

I ever took off the belt and checked the idler pulley. The bearing
of the pulley seems good. I also checked the bearing of the belt
tensioner pulley. No problem.

I heard from the forum that WD-40 works sometimes, and I spray
the WD-40 briefly on the groove side of the belt. It WORKS!!
However the squeaking noise came back usually after 2~3 miles
driving. I am totally pissed off.

This afternoon I took off the belt completely and wanted to find
what the heck is the origin of the noise. I flipped the belt and it
looks OK. I then used a sharp chisel trying to clean the groove and
I found numerous tiny grits (stone or cracked glass) embedded on
the bottom of the grooves. I spent an hour or so to dig them out.
I guess these tiny grits are the true cause of the noise. Think about
the situation that one day the tread of your tire was filled with
some pebble occasionally and it gives out some squealing noise
when you drive and the pitch correlates with the speed of the car.

The dirty belt may be caused by a poor design of the Sable. The
belt is both tooooo long and touches too low to the ground, which
exposes it to millions of chances to capture dirties from below
especially driving on poor roads. In addition, there is no appropriate
shield on the bottom to protect it from grits.

coonerboy · 03-10-2008, 05:41

Did you replace the belt?

Luxury · 03-10-2008, 15:09

I had the same problem with belt noise recently under the same conditions. I tried to isolate the noise by holding one end of an old heater hose to my ear and moving the other end around the pulleys (poor man's stethoscope). I narrowed it down to the water pump and I was getting ready to replace it, but while getting an oil change they suggested just changing the belt. I did, and it fixed it. Easy and cheap fix.

Enzo731 · 03-12-2008, 15:16

I got the same problem on my 03 Taurus, stupid belt always makes noise when its either raining, gotten wet or high humidity in the air.

SHOZ123 · 03-13-2008, 11:32

A new belt should help. The Gatorbacks are a bit noisier. Belt dressing is a no-no as it only makes more gunk stick to the belt and pulleys. Should never be used.

**tbird100636** · 03-13-2008, 20:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by SHOZ123

A new belt should help. The Gatorbacks are a bit noisier. Belt dressing is a no-no as it only makes more gunk stick to the belt and pulleys. Should never be used.

Ditto.

des7969 · 05-26-2011, 19:55

I just bought an 02 Taurus with 127k miles from the Dept of Transportation and it had LOTS of dust in the interior from gravel roads. After 1 week the belt started squeaking. I used the old school method of putting a hose to my ear and pointing it toward the loudest squeak. I narrowed the squeak down to the belt coming out of the water pump. I took the belt off and noticed tiny bits of shiny gravel stuck in the ribs of the belt. I picked them out (probably 100 of them), reinstalled the belt, and the squeak disappeared! Much thanks to the other post in this thread for suggesting this!

I'm an ex-belt engineer from Goodyear, so I was actually surprised it was the belt. We all know belts are made of rubber and that all rubber squeaks. So the auto companies take great pains to avoid belt squeak. Most new belts don't squeak because when the ribs are ground/milled at the factory this milling process exposes the tiny fibers (cotton, polyester, rayon, kevlar, etc) in the belt. These fibers help contact the pulley grooves. They allow the belt to slip a little and not squeak. Problem is that after about 10000 miles the fibers tend to wear off and leave exposed rubber - which squeaks.

Since I had such an old belt and it just started squeaking, I was surprised it was the belt. I thought for sure it was going to be the WP pullley. So if you owe a Taurus and drive gravel roads, don't be surprised if the belt squeaks at the WP after a while . But clean out the gravel from the belt grooves, and you are good to go!

**Bert** · 05-26-2011, 20:51

Thanks for the information. Just to let you know, when we replaced belts on some of our vehicles, if we didn't use OEM or Goodyear belts, we could have noisey belts. Schucks used to carry Goodyears but now they have Gates.

Dcomer · 11-29-2011, 10:10

I have a 2007 Ford Taurus that every year when it starts to get cold or really rainy it begins squealing. Ford said it was and replaced the tension idle pully 2x in 2 years until the warrenty was no longer good and the last year I replaced to the tune of about $250 each time. I am getting ready to do it again. Does ford have anything to say about this. Isn't this an issue they should be addressing?

Special Edd · 12-29-2011, 14:30

I have an 02 Taurus, squealing like a stuck pig from the belt side for seemingly for ever. Change the belt, goes away and returns in less than a day or two. Have changed it a few times and the compressor once. Belt dressing, WD 40, Q tip and vasaline you name it. it all works long enough for me to smile and drive off only to return louder than before. Today I changed the belt, idler AND tensioner
pulley, sounded good for half an hour. What else am I missing? Water pump? Flux capacitor low on plutonium? Squeals at idle, louder and faster as it revs up... People say these cars are junk but has been great me, besides the fact it announces Im coming a mile away. HELP