From: "Ian B" To: <80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com> Subject: Re: [80] BELT SQUEAL! Date sent: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 13:14:07 +0930 Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com From: Clive Myerson > Can anyone in the group tell me how to eliminate the " Fan Belt > Squeal" ? The belt is not slipping! > * Could they be too tight? > * Will replacing the belts sort out this problem? > > Regards > Clive M - Sydney I just went through this. I replaced my belts less than 12 months ago. On my recent foray to Adelaide, I heard intermittent squealing and because the belts were fairly new figured it might be the alternator bearings starting to die. After checking when I got back, the belts were stuffed. I had tensioned them to what I have always considered a reasonable level but they were worn, cracked and had a groove in the side from the edge of the pulley. I have since replaced the Dayco's (was all that was available at the time) with Gates belts. The squeal (which I thought couldn't be the belts) has gone and my voltage gauge is reading as I expect now after starting first thing in the morning. The alternator appears to place a heavy load on the belts. YMMV, Ian B 93 GXL HZJ80 Alice Springs, Australia http://www.geocities.com/hzj80 Date sent: Sun, 05 Dec 1999 23:06:01 -0700 From: Lawrence Powell Organization: @Home Network To: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com Subject: Re: [80] BELT SQUEAL! Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com All, I installed a pair of Gates belts two months ago. They did not squeal. Replacement belts must be exact twins and tensioned just so, otherwise one will slip, heat up, stretch, and then the other. Does it look to you like Toyota has provided a back-up belt because there's two of them? Not so. The alternator requires more power than one belt can provide. Always replace both, always use exact pairs. I trust Gates to have not too much length variation in pairs. (Obviously, this means that the ONE spare you carry won't get you very far in the outback.) Law Date sent: Sun, 05 Dec 1999 23:20:42 -0700 From: "Davin Lim" To: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com Subject: Re: [80] BELT SQUEAL! Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com Lawrence Powell wrote: > > All, > I installed a pair of Gates belts two months ago. They did > not squeal. Hi Lawrence - Were the Gates belts you used "smooth" or were they "toothed" on the inner running surface? A while back I used Gates belts and found the toothed inner running surfaces would "sing" on one of the idler pulleys. It wasn't a squealing sound, but more like the sound of a turbine spinning up and down with the revs. It wasn't super loud, but definitely noticeable. I replaced them with OEM Toyota (Mitsuboshi), which are smooth on the inner surface, and the singing/whining sound went away. -Davin Date sent: Mon, 06 Dec 1999 00:14:56 -0700 From: Lawrence Powell Organization: @Home Network To: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com Subject: Re: [80] BELT SQUEAL! Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com Davin, Yes, the new Gates alternator belts had wavy teeth on the inside. Yes, I can hear the teeth on the idler, and the originals I removed were quiet. The idler wheel referred to is not a tensioning device but seems to be an anti-vibration or anti-slap device. The belt contacts the wheel at not much more than a tangent, so very little belt force is applied. I mentioned this to the NAPA store chap and he said it is OK to run that way and will not affect the life of the belt. BTW, list: Has anyone removed this idler wheel? The wavy tooth is a next-generation design so I am glad to have it, and the noise is drowned out by road noise at speed. (Sounds like a tiger purring under the bonnet at idle.)