How to to fix a whisteling car drive belt
How to fix a whisteling and annoying car drive belt!
All cars, except for the rare solely electric car, have 1 or 2 drive belts (note – we are not talking about timing belts here, only drive belts). But did you know that the drive belts are one of the most overlooked and under cared for parts of the car? We assume that they will always work. But many of us forget that they have a useful life and it is not wise to go beyond that. Else you could be found on the road side of the road with an overheating car or even a seized up engine.
That’s how important the drive belt is. But what if it’s just whistling and making annoying noises? Can this be fixed without replacing the belt? Well, if you’ve been to an automotive parts store lately and you were to look in the house where the oil and other engine lubricants and treatments are you would probably find something called belt dressing. They’ll dressing as a spray that you can apply directly to the drive belts and will quiet some or all of the whistling noise that they make.
Now it is important to read the directions on the bottle and make sure you do not overspray this belt dressing as that can actually cause the belts to slip and come off the pulleys. Now if this does happen it can be fixed, but it can be difficult and its definitely not something you want to have happen in your driveway or in a parking lot . The reason is is that most pulleys have a tensioning system and it’s not exactly easy to go and undo the tension on it to reapply the belt. Usually this requires two wrenches and also a diagram on how the belt is to be applied back on.
This may sound simple, but if you take the belt off and don’t remember exactly how it was on there. This could lead to a very frustrating situation. So be careful when spraying belt dressing to quiet the whistling of your drive belts. Also, you may be covering up a problem that could be serious. Usually whistling drive belts are caused by a belt that is becoming worn, frayed or hard. This means it is time for placement of the drive belt or belts if your car has more than one.
Once the drive belts start to get old, frayed or hardened over time it is important that you replace them as soon as possible. The drive belts run the water pump, your alternator, a/c and more. So if your drive belt breaks your car will overheat quickly and this could lead to a seized up engine and damaged parts that will be very expensive to fix. Just like with brakes squealing, squealing or whistling drive belts were an indication that either the belts need to be replaced or something is wrong with the alignment of the pulleys or a bearing in a pulleys may be going bad.
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So if you want a quiet your car or truck’s drive belts you can use belt dressing, but keep in mind it’s just a cover up and will not treat the real problem which most likely is a frayed or hardened and aged drive belt that needs replacement. So be sure and have an expert mechanic take a look at your vehicle and determine if this is the case and get it replaced and fixed so you can avoid being stranded in the side of the road and left with very expensive repairs.
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Thanks for the great tip. I have a van that has a squeeky belt. I will try this belt dressing and see how that works. Question – what can you do about squeeky brakes?
Great tips dude. Keep them coming.
The belt dressing idea does work, but be careful not to apply too much as the belt will run or slip right off the pulleys and its a bitch to get it back on especially if you don’t know the correct sequencing of pulleys.
Wow, I didn’t know that cars could whistle or carry a tune. That’s very interesting.
I had a Toyota Sienna that would realy squeel when I started the motor. I finally took it to the mechanic. They said it needed a new serpentine belt and that it was going to cost $250 to replace. Does a serpentine belt really cost that much to fix and replace? Or did I get ripped off?
My cars belts whistle and I kind of like the noise – you get used to it after a while.
Wow, thats a very helpful article – I have been having similar problems with my car’s drive belts. The one constantly makes a whisteling, screaming noise that gets louder as the car goes faster. I will have to try this fix on it.