SOLVED! Belt Squeak/Squeal (Not Belt/Tensioner/Idler Pulley)

TL/DR - IT WAS THE FAN CLUTCH! Videos below on Post #19!

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Hi Everyone,

I have a 2020 Tundra TRD Pro w/ 30k miles and it started squeaking/squealing around Christmas. After finding a lot of other Tundra owners solved it by replacing the belt, tensioner, and idler pulley, that's what I did and none of them fixed the issue. I hear it loudest from directly in front of the radiator. It still does it after a 30-min highway drive. Water did nothing. I'm thinking it's the fan pulley (specifically the fluid coupling bracket, #9 in the attached pic). Questions I have are:

- Has anyone had this bearing fail before?
- Thoughts on what other component it might be?
- Has anyone had success finding bad bearings using an automotive stethoscope?

https://youtube.com/shorts/OkK3w1lfwmo

 

Welcome from WA.

I'll be following this. I've got a squeal on cold startup that just popped up this week, just assumed it was the belt until now.
2017 w/55k miles.

 

Got a $5 stethoscope from Harbor Freight and still couldn’t isolate the source. Taking it to the dealer on Wednesday, will let you know the outcome.

 

Master technician at Toyota spent 2 hrs messing with it and is going to “take a guess” and swap the alternator under warranty. They got a “tiny noise” when spinning the alternator in reverse. If that’s not it then i’ll have to throw the toyota parts back on it for them to look again. Warranty expires at month-end though…

 

Having the same exact problem on my 2014. Replaced w/ OEM Dayco belt, tensioner, and idler pulley.
2 weeks later and I have this same squealing.

 

I didn’t get the noise to subside at all after replacing with Dayco, and there was no change in how the sound was. I’m assuming it has to be the alternator pulley bearing or the bearing on the fan bracket. They were annoyingly stressing I should put the Toyota parts back on when the Dayco parts are a non-issue in this case. That said if it’s not the alternator they won’t do anything else unless I put them back on. Dropping that skid plate alone with a jack is a bear that I’m not looking forward to doing again. I’ll see what they say tomorrow after they put in the new alternator.

 

The only other options could be power steering or water pump. Hopefully the alternator is the fix, i'll check back in. Good luck !

 

New alternator on, still squeaks, now I have to put the factory belt, tensioner, and idler pulley back on so they can try again…

 

Did they check water pump? Ordered a stethoscope to check tonight. Have a feeling thats the culprit on mine.
At least you've got a new alternator!

 

One can only assume a Toyota Master Technician would’ve checked, lol. Picking the truck up now, will put the toyota parts back on it and drop it off again on the 26th while it’s still under warranty.

 

Dang - this was my squeal at 65k miles.

 

Super disappointed… my torque wrench failed me and I snapped the idler pulley bolt. Used my trusty torque wrench A on the tensioner at 17lbs, used a new torque wrench B on the idler pulley at 32lbs and it snapped. I’ve never successfully extracted a bolt before, and I don’t want to make it even worse, so I’m going to have it towed over there with a white flag.

 

Got anymore info on your alternator issue, did it just continue to get worse?
My squeal is still only on cold starts.

 

I tried changing the tensioner, belt, and idler pulley initially because the squeak was driving me nuts. It was more pronounced when cold but you could hear it almost all the time. After the initial “fix” failed I figured it was the alternator bearings. Weird because they were quiet when spun by hand but swapping the alt fixed the problem.
Coincidentally I’m taking my old alt in this week for rebuild for the next time.

 

Turning into a hell of a mission for ya, sorry to hear that !!

 

Interesting, I'll keep an eye on it. Thanks for the info.

 

Sure is, self-inflicted, sucks. Dealer said $338 to drill and tap, fine. Should be fixed on Monday, then we can again address the original issue of the squeak.

 

For anyone wondering how the saga ended, Toyota did drill and tap my busted idler pulley bolt. They stayed true to their quote of $338.

All of a sudden, no squeak. Not other parts were changed besides that alternator. I'm out of words, glad it's over.

If there is a way to mark this thread as complete or to change the title let me know, thanks.

 

IT WAS THE FAN CLUTCH!!!

Below are the videos I shared with the dealer. They replaced it under warranty. No more squeak!!!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=RE3d-x-Mnfw&feature=shares

https://youtube.com/watch?v=m2xUTcBKtQ4&feature=shares

 

Thank you for posting this! I have the same exact noise on my 2018 with 42k miles. I shot a video of it and before uploading it here, I decided I would do a search first. It’s loudest when I’m in front of the truck rather than looking in the engine bay. I was hoping it was just a belt squeal but obviously it’s not. I’ll be making an appointment with the dealer. Thanks again for putting all this info on here. If the techs at my dealer are anything like yours, this would have been a maddening situation. Now I can just tell them what the issue is.

 

Glad to hear that, hopefully it all works out for you. And yeah, for me it was def a metal-squeaking noise loudest when your ear is right in front of the radiator.

 

Same problem on my 2017 with 85k miles. Took it to the dealership under warranty and they replaced the belt tensioner, but that didn't stop the noise. They called later saying they now believe it to be the fan bracket and one is on order. It should arrive Monday and I'll get my truck back on Tuesday. Hopefully that will do it. My squeal was early morning especially when cold outside. It would squeal for about 20 mins or so before stopping. Most audible around 800-1000 rpm's. I believe they are talking about part #9 in the picture from post #1.

 

Yeah that’s called the Fluid Coupling Bracket: https://parts.toyota.com/p/Toyota_2...KET---FLUID-COUPLING/63004132/163800S010.html

That’s what I thought mine was too until I got the fan clutch to squeak by hand. The clutch is easier to replace than the bracket, and it’s cheaper, so I’m hoping they’re certain it’s the bracket. My dealer was giving me gripe about “well can’t just keep throwing parts at it” which made me more determined to figure it out myself and tell them how to fix it. Let me know how you make out.

 

I'll be sure to update the result. I didn't hear from them today, but supposedly the part would arrive today and I should be able to pick it up tomorrow. They are doing the tensioner and fan bracket both under the extended warranty.

 

@Capema00 - Posting the follow up from my service visit. The dealership first changed the drive belt tensioner assembly. The noise was still present so they kept looking and then ended up changing the fan bracket as well. The squealing is still present, but maybe not as much as it was before. They said they checked everything else over and said if the squealing continues it may be related to the supercharger...I'm thinking that was just them throwing in the towel since neither of those two items eliminated the squeal and they had an easy out. I'm wondering if it may be the #1 idler pulley or the supercharger pulley making the noise. Seems simple enough to swap and not relatively expensive to change them out. I may order those two pulleys and give it a shot.

 

Sorry to hear that @AZTundra, it’s got to be super frustrating. The only thing I recommend is to double check the fan clutch by taking EACH fan blade and jerk it back and forth rapidly. If you hear nothing on each fan blade then it’s likely something else. For me, it only squeaked on one blade position. If you go for the idler pulley just make sure you don’t over-torque it like I did. If you keep pursuing it I’m interested in what ends up working.

 

I'll keep you posted. Also going to pick up an automotive stethoscope to see if I can pinpoint anything obvious with that. Fingers crossed.

 

My truck started chirping last week on cold starts. Heard best through the grille. Sure enough it was the fan clutch too. 39k. Ordered a new one today.

 

Magic belt squeak remover..

3M Silicone Paste 7000148211 | O'Reilly Auto Parts (oreillyauto.com)

a little dab on the flat and ridged side of the belt will ya..

 

I’ve got the same issue, sort of. Sound was coming from passenger side and replaced tensioner pulley, then idler pulley and yesterday the PS pump. Not as bad, but still there. Shot some WD-40 onto the alternator pulley while it was running (still had the passenger subfenders out) and it changed, then stopped for a minute. I guess I’m going after that next.