hi i have a 99 xlt 3.0 and i have a very squeaky belt, it is loud and annoying, it is not constantly squeaking but it does it 70% of the time, i have tried belt dressing, and even replaced the belt, but yet it still squeaks. i really appreciate any help -Ramin

What belt? I used a gatorback and it went away completely. It's the "silent belt". I know that before I changed belts I used dressing and it made it worse.

Have you check to see anything trying lock up on you

i experience somewhat the same thing. sometimes when i start my truck after rain or sometimes when there is a lot of dew on my truck. my engine squeels. i dont know if it is just moisture or what.

thats moisture

I've replaced my belt with the stock one 3 times.... it started squeaking again this week constantly. This time i think I am going to go with a UDP and a gatorback. Going that route the first time probably would have saved me money, but eh. (live and learn) :banghead:

where can i get one if these gatorbacks and how much are they, what are they? heh thanks alot guys, yes it might be moisture, it did not do it during the drought.

Mccormack has a fix for this,if you keep looking this same complaint is lttered all over the site. But basically it is a tensioner and belt replacement. After replacing the tensionser see if the tensioner pulley and fan pulley line up. Use a straight edge. If it does not the pulley needs to be shimmed. There is a technical services bulletin by Ford to address this problem.

Mccormack has a fix for this,if you keep looking this same complaint is lttered all over the site. But basically it is a tensioner and belt replacement. After replacing the tensionser see if the tensioner pulley and fan pulley line up. Use a straight edge. If it does not the pulley needs to be shimmed. There is a technical services bulletin by Ford to address this problem.

Do a search, or else PM me and I'll help you out. McCormack.

Whadya say Boss 302... this is about tenth time the squeaky belt problem has come up on the forum in the last couple of months... seeing as squeaky belts are such a common Ranger problem, is there a good reason why you won't make the solutions to that problem a sticky like I've previously suggested?

Detroit Bob and McCormack said it the best. Replace the spring loaded tensioner (those things wear out over time) and make sure all of the pulley's are lined up. Any time a belt gets loose, it squeals. If it doesn't turn over the pulleys the correctly, it squeals. This is an big problem that keeps reoccurring over and over again on these forums. Perhaps it is because of the engineering design (or whatever we want to blame it one to make us feel better).

I have been having the same squeak, only when it is damp out. It drives me nuts, I will try replacing the belt first.



2000 XLT, 3.0, 2WD

Hey all - great forum here and a lot of great information.

I just wanted to ask if anyone has experienced this problem since I haven't been able to find anything on it using my feeble-minded searches. I have a '98 Ranger with a 3.0L, PS and A/C, and have run across the engine squeaking problems also. I am going to try some of the stuff listed in the posts here (replace belt tensioner and belt, check all pulleys, check tensioner pulley alignment) and hopefully I can get the squeaking straightened out.

Here is my question though - it has always been a trying experience (for both me and those within earshot) to get the serpentine belt on my ranger. Last summer I threw a belt in a parking lot after squealing levels had reached an all-time high. I couldn't get that belt back on that night, so I figured I'd try a new belt the next day. I got a new belt that was supposedly for my truck (88") and expected a fight as usual. After trying by myself, then employing the help of three different people, including my local shadetree mechanic, I still needed about 1-2" more in length. I took the belt back, got a 2270 mm (89.4") and it went on without a hitch and was tight, but not scary tight like it usually is. The belt was great until about 8 months later when it started squealing intermittently. After a year it started to get pretty bad with the squealing so I went and got another belt yesterday. Remembering that I needed the larger belt, I got the closest to this that I could find, a 2300 mm (90.55"), and tried to install it this morning. With my 230 lbs almost hanging off the breaker bar to get the tensioner to move as far as possible, I still could not get the new belt on. I compared the two belts and the old one seems a little bigger, but I attributed this to stretching. I absolutely cannot figure this phenomenon out - everything looks to be in good shape and I have checked all of the pulleys and accessories to make sure they haven't shifted somehow. I grew up in my dad's auto repair shop and have never encountered this and have also asked his mechanics to look at it but all they can suggest is to replace the tensioner and give it another try since they can't figure out what would cause this either. I thought maybe by asking on such a focused forum that I may have better luck finding other cases like this.

Sorry for the long-winded report and I appreciate any comments. If I figure anything out after fiddling around with it this weekend I'll update the post.
'Till then, keep her in the mud!

Just changed my belt yesterday, so far so good. Mine fit like a glove, no problems except a pinched finger, ouch!!

Well, new tensioner on, new belt on, alignment checked and no squeaking/squealing as of yet. I still haven't been able to figure out why I need such a large belt (+ ~30 cm or ~2.55") as compared to factory specs, but that problem is minimal at this point. The bearing in the old tensioner pulley sounds and feels like it was going, so I am guessing that the increased drag is what was causing me to glaze my belts so fast after replacement.
Thanks again to everyone on the forum for your posts.

I just shoot my belt and tensioner with WD40 whenever it starts to squeek ( bout once or twice a year ) and it shuts right up.

works for me

well, I am a TOTAL RETARD

DO NOT DO WHAT I JUST TOLD YOU TO DO lol

when I did that, it worked for about 10 minutes, but under load the damn thing sounded like a banshee..

I took the belt off, and cleaned each pulley with brake cleaner, ( I sprayed it on a rag, and wiped each pulley down) then I ran the rag over my belt, and now the squeal has stopped ( we will see for how long though )

it seems that slippage is what is causing my problem... therefore, READ all the posts before mine, as they were all right, and this post may hold a little more usefullness.

sorry for the stupidity

well mine does the same thing but its a pure moisture thing. so just let your engine run a bit and it should "burn" off the moisture.

hi i have a 99 xlt 3.0 and i have a very squeaky belt, it is loud and annoying, it is not constantly squeaking but it does it 70% of the time, i have tried belt dressing, and even replaced the belt, but yet it still squeaks. i really appreciate any help -Ramin
I had the same problem and tried belt dressing. That did not work so I talked to a friend about it and he had me spray brake parts cleaner on it to remove lubricants. The squeaking is gone now.

don't spray degreaser, or brake cleaner directly on your plastic pulleys or your belt it will dissolve the actual component that holds the belt together.

my belt is fixed, i went to autozone and REPLACEed me IDLER PULLY i hope this helps someone, no more squeak.

reasonable

if u replace your belt and it still does it check your tentioner ford has a real prob with them going bad

well i have the same problem as everyone else it seems here. well i tried to use the ol' belt dressing, that didnt work so i went to the car wassh sprayed that off, tried wd40 it worked for a day or two but it also failed. so now i talked to a buddie back home and he said pully bearings might have had dirt in them and messed up a bearing or two it should cut in and out right i said yes he said replace that and your problem should be fixed. i did what he said and, lo and behold no squeak, for all those who like to play in the mud when the mud is out there bring a bottle of water it might not happen to you but it could!!

:rant: :huh:

Ok I have a 99 and I had the same problem for months and I work at an express garage and run into this constanly with 98-00 rangers
-First off do not use a v belt anymore it will only aggrivate you after about a month when it starts to squeak again. Use the Good Year gator back belt. The cross grooves help shut it up.
-Second I found that with time the pullyes develop a lot of build up and varnish from the rubber on the belt... cleaning it off is bitch. If you use baking soda like arm and hammer on the pully grooves and the belt it will stop the squeaking.(powder back of belt and pulleys lightly)
-Third the tensioner this can be a problem but it usually isn't unless you notice that it has greatly weakend or if it vibrates while the engine is ideling.
-Fourth and Finally DO NOT USE ANY LUBRICANTS ON THE BELT SYSTEM!!
This is a huge mistake because the the pulleys need the friction to operate at their most efficient levels besides when the lubricant wears off it will scream like a banchee so don't do it.
If nothing else check you power steering pump and compressor clutch and see if they are putting up too much resistance( usually indicated by hard stiff steering or a noisey compressor)

Belt started squeeking the minute I pulled my new truck in the driveway...grr.

I can tell that the squeeking is occurring because the belt is shifting from front to back on the tensioner pulley. As I look down at the pulley from the top of the engine compartment I can see everytime it shifts, it squeeks too.

So I need to check the alignment of the tensioner pulley and shim it.

Question is...what do I shim it with? Washers?

Oh BTW...I'm new here. :errrr:

Hey could be the tension pulley or the water pump also man it was a pump for me i replaced the belt and it was still sqeekin check it out the tension pulley also can get misallined but i dont know for sure

check ur idler pulley and ur belt tensioner too if there is bearing play in the idler pulley that will cause a belt to squeak too.

Im having the same problem with my 2000 ford ranger.
I have already replaced the belt, and both pulleys, (tensioner and the other pulley) still have squeaking. My friend came by when it was happening sparyed WD40 into the power steering pump and the sound went away for a couple of days. Going to replace the steering pump and see what happens.
Can any recommend a good site to get this gator belt that everyone is talkin about!!!

Hello, I too am a member of the squeaky Ranger belt club. This noise would normally be intermittent, occuring mostly when it's very damp out. Noise would generally go away after the belt dried off... Back in June I replaced the belt with Duralast from Auto Zone. So life was good until this week, 7 months and less than 20000 miles later this Duralast belt would squeal like crazy and it would never stop. I could put belt dressing on and it would stop or quite it down for like 15 minutes. I got the WD40 out and the first time I sprayed the idler it stopped. So a trip to the Auto Zone to piss away $20 on an idler only to have the same squeal!!! I found that I could put anything on the belt and it would stop for a while. Water, oil, or belt dressing. The part that sucks is that the Duralast belt looks BRAND SPANKING NEW!!!! I even got the power washer out that was another great idea that didn't work...
The Fix was: Going to Auto Zone and Buying a new Goodyear Gatorback belt. I tool the Duralast off, cleaned all the pulleys with paint thinner and a brush then power washed them again. (years of crap on them) I put the Gatorback on and it's very quite. It ran only about 20 minutes but so far so good.
Lessons Learn: I could not install a belt I purchased in June from Pep Boys, took it back and got the Duralast from AZ. I cussed up a storm tring to install the Duralast. I don't know why this two belts are so FREAKIN tight!! OK Fast forward to now! I spent $20 on the serpinetine belt tool from AZ. (Money well spent) and the Gatorback belt was a piece of cake to get on. I think it maybe a bit longer. It's crazy how such simple problem can be a nightmare!!!