So as the title says, my belt was chirping on cold and/or wet start ups several months ago. I changed the serpentine belt even though the old one looked ok, and the noise stopped. It recently returned and got worse, lasting a while after start up. I assumed it was the idler or tensioner pulley, so I changed both of them. It still chirps on cold starts! With the belt off I checked the other pulleys and they were quiet and smooth. In the past on other cars the belt/idlers always cured this. I have a mechanic's stethoscope and everything sounds the same. Does anyone have any other ideas or diagnosis techniques? Thanks.
07 Accord V6 belt chirp--need advice
- Thread starter JMHC
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Manufacturer of the belt perhaps. OEM?
JHZR2
Staff member
Check pulley alignment. One of the v belts on my BMW does this because the bushings on the alternator bracket cause it to sit crooked.
Kestas
Staff member
I had a belt chirp that only went away when I changed the belt. The car saw a lot of storage and I thought it was corrosion related. I removed corrosion (no change) and scuffed the flat side of the serpentine belt to remove glazing. Scuffing made the chirping go away only for a day or two.
There are two different versions of belt pensioners, Dayco design with flat spring or Gates style with round spring.
You might fix a cold-start chirp by changing the type of tensioner.
For Honda, their is a procedure for fixing a chirp on a warm engine.
http://www.underhoodservice.com/Article/62199/Tech_Tip_Q.aspx
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Normally, Goodyear Gatorback belts work for me as well, but had bad experience on our Acura's V-6 (same engine). After installing it (just because the OEM belt had a lot of miles on it), I noticed a lot of clacking noises with the A/C on. It sounded like the A/C compressor was noisy. Upon further inspection, I noticed that when the A/C engaged, the belt tensioner would rapidly flop back and forth, and this appeared to be causing the noise. I put the OEM belt back on and the noise went away. Seems the durometer or tension or whatever on the Goodyear belt was not correct for the belt drive system.
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Check pulley alignment. One of the v belts on my BMW does this because the bushings on the alternator bracket cause it to sit crooked.
I did in fact use a Dayco "W" belt a few months ago. So it worked for a while...
I used Gatorbacks in the past and they tend to whine so I have strayed away from them.
The Honda procedure is for the timing belt chirp TSB which is a very different noise. However, I will pull the belt and start the car cold to verify the serpentine belt is the problem. Mine chirps cold, not warm, so i suspect the drive belt as opposed to the timing belt.
If it is the serpentine belt, it could be pulley misalignment, but on this motor, there is no way to adjust it that I can see.
Kestas
Staff member
Squirt water at different points for diagnostics.
It's definitely the serpentine belt. When I spray it with water the noise immediately stops, so it's a chirp indicating misalignment. The problem is, as far as I can tell, none of the pulleys are pressed on. How would one measure this, and correct misalignment?
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