squealing belt

[slammedLXI]

when i start my car (hot or cold) and when the rpms are between like 1500 and 2500 my belts will squeal... i thought it might of been my alternator belt so i tightened it up a little and still it does it. the A/C compressor belt feels a little loose, could it be that? and if so how do i tighten that?

could it be just that i need a NEW alternator belt? and thats why its squealing?

also one more thing that might help is that it will squeal more when im driving if my lights are on, seems a little odd to me but its true.

[SiR]

If its the A/C, does it make noise when the A/C is on? If its loose, yea, it would be the compressor belt.

[Einstein]

It's the alternator belt. Mind does it for a block or two as well.

When it's cold and your lights are on there is a lot of demand on the alternator for accessories and to charge the battery. Plus when the belt is cold it isn't as compliant as when it's warm. If it continues making noise when things warm up you might consider replacing it.

Overtightening your alternator belt can cause problems of it's own, so don't keep tighthening beyond what's reasonable.

[DBMaster]

I hav found that the old spray can of belt dressing can still work wonders. I just ended up having to tighten my alt belt, but if it is already pretty tight try the dressing.

[SiR]

If you overt tighten, you might ruin the bearings on the various pulleys prematurely. I never liked belt dressing, its a form of "band-aid". It dosent fix the problem.

[DBMaster]

I agree somewhat, but it does no harm that I am aware of.

[Einstein]

I had a saturn that had a noisy belt. They sprayed it with stop-squeal stuff and it came back - much worse! They had to replace the serpentine belt because the stop-squeal ruined the belt.