Serpentine belt

Hello all,

I was driving home a few days ago and noticed a rather loud squealing noise coming from my engine compartment. It was late so could not really just run to the shop. Anyways, ordered a new serpentine belt...changed it out. Seems to all be lined up and good to go.

HOWEVER, when I start the engine now it still squeals (pretty loud) and the belt does not turn...not sure it turned the night I got home from driving (it was pretty late). When I changed the belt I turned the pulleys and they all turned great besides the very bottom one would not turn at all (not sure if that normally turns without the truck running).


Any ideas on solutions. I was thinking maybe belt tensioner, but not sure why that would prevent it turning. AC runs fine, truck seems to be charging so was not thinking it was the alternator...not sure though. Any help would be appreciated! Gotta get the silver bullet back on the road!

 

The very bottom one on the V8 engine is the main engine crank, and you cannot turn that by hand.

 

Thank you! Any idea what would cause the belt from spinning? I'm out of ideas.

 

You can if you eat enough weaties and spinach....

 

Well, you "can" but you absolutely should not unless you're doing the timing belt, and know what you're doing.

I can't find the thread, but there was another member about a year ago that had a seized idler bearing for the Serpentine belt. In the picture below, the tensioner is the Red arrow, and the light blue arrow is the idler.


Check both of those for free spin, and free play. Grab one side of the spinny part and wiggle it front to back.

You might have an issue with one of those if it's binding under load.

 

During a cold start, Does the squeaking stop when the battery voltage reaches the middle on the cluster (14 volts)?

 

The squeaking does not stop. I left it running for a short bit then turned it off when the belt was not spinning. Did not want to damage anything internally.

 

Do what @Tundra2 said above.

But my advice to you is this: If you have long-handle (16") wrenches, bonus if ratcheting, just pop the belt off the the pulley he shows with a red arrow. I can show you a 5 second video showing you how to do it super fast an easily.

Once you've slid the belt just off that pulley, you can test both pulleys he highlights and make sure they're spinning. This is an easy, no-brainer way to immediately diagnose whether the most common pulleys to stick are your problem. My belief is you'll find the pulley with the red arrow is frozen up.

Let me know if you need that video link, or if you're already aware which pulley to turn opposite direction you'd expect to release tension. You don't actually remove a bolt, just turning on the fastener itself moves the entire pulley system. These engines have one of the easiest pulley systems I've ever worked on.

 

Awesome! Yeah I replaced the belt today so I checked all the pulleys when it was off...did not check the belt tensioner though. I could not get the wrench off to test it, but everything else spins freely. I ordered a new tensioner and idler pulley (just in case). I will keep you posted! Appreciate the help!