I was the one with the loose a/c compressor. The truck went through three dealer trips before "I" found the trouble The last dealer actually had me drop the truck off, and gave me a ride home only to call me back before we got there. I knew what happened right away, lol. I went out and cranked it up, and the squealing was still there. I popped the hood, and of course they had tried to get away with belt dressing, idiots I thank Ford for replacing my belt and tensioner twice, and not looking beyond that for the cause. It still squeals on damp days on the first startup. It goes away within a minute so it doesn't bother me that much. The main thing on my squeal, was that it started the day after my timing chain gasket was changed under warranty.
This dealer also let me pick up the truck with the power steering bolts hanging out 1/4"!! So, it stands to reason that he left some other bolts loose as well. Since I crawled under the truck and tightened the comp. I haven't heard anything more than the damp squeal. check your bolts!!,,,,98

 

Oh well, time for me to practice what I preach, my fiance just came back from shopping with the belt squealing away like crazy. Her response? I didn't notice anything, LOL,,,,,98

 

Shoot,,nothing loose and still squealing. I'm waiting for the dealer to call me back for an appointment now. AAARRRRRRGGHH!!!!,,,,98

 

two questions for this thread:

Can the belt make a whining sound rather than a squeeling? I've noticed that when the temp. drops, mine makes a groaning or whining sound. I hate it.

How often should they be changed anyway, how many miles?

originally I thought it might have been my alternator, which was changed and cost me too much money to even mention. I'm praying that it's the belt and not an ac or power steering seal.

 

May as well get them to put a new belt on. What you experienced happens fairly often with the 5.4L engines, especially when they're chipped. Somehow, the belt just can't handle the strain of the 5.4L spooling up to max rpm.

Bet it happened on the first to second shift.

 

I too, have been putting up with the squealing belt, spraying belt dressing on it every other day, and also the "marble-in-a-can" sound when accelerating. After about 10 minutes all those sounds went away. Out of embarassment when starting my truck in the parking lot at work on cold mornings, I finally called my mechanic (not the expensive car dealership either) and had him replace the serpentine belt (old one had 90,400 miles on it, original belt too), change spark plugs, filters and oil. Got the truck back and sounds as quiet as the day I bought it. I thought I had some engine problems coming on with that acceleration rattle, or that detonation (sp?) others have talked about in these posts...but so far, knock on wood, I'm driving a quiet truck again.

I'm happy!

 

The sqeal on wet mornings is normal...however you can try a different brand of quality belt....

Starting with a load on the belt amplifies this(a/c on, p/s turned, etc.)

Use a quality name brand belt or you will regret it...

 

Had the squeal in my 97 big merc. since new (4.6), cold mornings for 5 to 15 seconds after starting. The first time the dealer replaced the belt, only helped for a short time. Just before the warranty expired, they replaced the belt and tensioner both. That was a year ago, and it didn't squeal last winter. After reading this thread, I won't be real surpised if it returns. I guess it's not a big problem, since it's fine when it warms up. It's just irritating to have a nice newer car or truck that sounds like a beater when you start it.

 

I had a squeal in my 1999. I think the first time in they greased the tensioner pulley. Second time I think the replaced it... not sure... but never had the squeal again....

 

The belt stopped squealing all by it's lonesome? I did tighten the a/c bolts an eighth of a turn, but that's all I did, and it kept doing it after. The next day it started up, and no squeal? None at all? This is frustrating Should I go ahead and take it in anyway? ,,,,98

 

Guys, I have a hard time with this squeal being normal. Yeah, it only lasts a minute or two, but, It is extremely embarassing when I park next to a Yahoo (Yukon) and 2 Rams. We get ut of work at the same time and I squeal and they don't.

Should I use this line. It's got too much hp for the belt.

 

It's not normal, and belt dressing is a band-aid fix. either have the belt replaced, or check that the idler / tension pulley is working correctly. I had the same problem as most here, and it didn't get resolved untill the idler / tension pulley was replaced. Mine burned up, and was not turning freely when cold. It was also making a scratching type sound. It has been getting down into the 30s here at nite, and I no longer have any noise what so ever on cold start.

 

I had that problem with 2 Motorcraft belts ina row I got from dealers. I went about 15k miles on each before they started sqealing like a pig. I finally talked to a local guy here in town and he said to get a 'name brand belt'. I bought a Gates belt and had it installed for $30. I've got over 30k miles on that thing and still no squealing. This guy also said that getting oil on the belt would eventually cause a squealing problem. Maybe when checking the oil you dropped some oil on the belt that got spread around a bit and caused the problem ?

Hope this helps.

 

Is could be that the cold is causung to belt to shrink, when it heats up it expands. Take your truck down to autozone or Hi-Lo and bring a breakover bar with you. Go inside and ask for a new belt, look at the size and get a belt thats a 1-2" shorter. Tell you'll be right back you want to test it to make sure it will fit. Run out side and pop it on and see how far the belt tensioner has to go down.

 

exactly moisture is the problem new ldler pulley and belt normally fixes I also found thi to work too but its rather dangerous, with the engine running run a wire brush across the belt to remove glazing. helps for a while but ofcourse not a perminant fix.




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