How to quieten a noisy belt? - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

dcliff1 · 04-19-2003, 01:06

Hi all,

I have a noisy belt going swish-swish-swish-swish all the time, its so loud people comment. Is there any way to make it quiet again? What would cause a noisy belt?

Thanks!

mongrelEB · 04-19-2003, 01:45

Try tightening it....

Grant Porter · 04-19-2003, 01:48

Ive got an EA falcon MPFI and it does the same thing but only when it is cold.

I would be having a look at all the belt tensioner pulleys (see if the wear marks are bottoming in the groove of all the pulleys?) and their bearings and also have a look at how all the belts are aglined.

Also if you run out of solutions try spraying some belt grip stuff onto the belts.

If worse comes to worse try a new belt and make sure that it is the right length!.

MAKE sure that they are not over-tight either which wrecks pulleys and bearings

mongrelEB · 04-19-2003, 02:17

The belt should depress about a finger's width, pushing on it between the balancer and the alternator. Less=too tight, more=too loose.
You could also try degreasing the front of the motor :)

Aussiblue · 04-19-2003, 04:43

Some belts are noisy and a bit of candle wax on them will silence them (don't be lazy and hold the candle against the rotating belt while the motor is running or the squeal from you when you lose a pinkie will be louder than the noise from the belt). But yes; on a Ford 6 it's much more likely to be a bearing in one of the drive or, more often, the idler pulleys.

Aussiblue · 04-19-2003, 04:47

PS do not degrease the belts; it will get it the pulley bearings and kill them; similarly belt stick will generally work its way into the bearings with similar results.

The spray on belt grip/belt stick stuff also attracts sand like a magnet; park near the beach on a windy day and watch the results of the now sandpaper like belts working on themselves and the pulleys. Yes I admit it; I tried this trick in my younger days and learnt the hard way; belt stick is fine for stationery motors with accessible belts but not cars.

NZ · 04-20-2003, 04:08

Ill add something but it may not be useful..

One of the John Deere tractors at home had a noise like a failed bearing or waterpump. It turned out to be belt noise and was fixed by throwing some baby powder at it. The powder acts as a dry lubrication, no more noisy belt. That was on a 50mm wide serpentine belt. May be worth a try??

VanGelder · 04-20-2003, 20:18

Don't spray anything on it mate, it'll wreck the belt and might snap when you least want it to (ie. the highway).
Try tightening it up and see if it still makes noise, If it still does just buy a new belt and at the same time clean your pulleys.

carazy · 04-21-2003, 03:34

Graphite power. Awesome stuff it lubricates but it's dry and doesn't kill anything.
I'd say it's either a worn or loose belt.

BunD · 04-24-2003, 22:24

Had the same problem with my el xr. After having fords replace all the pullys and bearings including the water pump and 4 motorcraft belts i replaced the belt with a bosch ahe now done 80000kms on that belt with no squeaks