tightening serpentine belt

[charlie]

Hi!

I have a 98 Saturn SL2 with 42k miles. The serpentine belt has started to
squeak. Is there any way that it can be tightened?

Thanks

[Filip M. Gieszczykiewicz]

In Article <qLW74.3361$Fc6....@news4.mia>, through puissant locution, "charlie" <2cha...@bellsouth.net> soliloquized:

>I have a 98 Saturn SL2 with 42k miles. The serpentine belt has started to
>squeak. Is there any way that it can be tightened?

No, the belt is tensioned with a spring'n'pulley. The squeek has to
do with the wear of the belt... Look at the inside surface of the
belt and see if it's cracker or has crud in the grooves. If it
looks 'good', you may have a failing tenioner ($80 part+1hr labor),
or the belt just wants to be changed... so either live with it
(and wait for the humidity to change :) or replace it.

Cheers,
Filip G.
--
Filip "I'll buy a vowel" Gieszczykiewicz | http://www.repairfaq.org/
(fil...@corona.eps.pitt.edu)
I am the river itself and the leaf floating its currents.
I am steering. I am swept. I am.

[DanlB20]

> The squeek has to
>do with the wear of the belt..

what about belt dressing....might that help?
Dan.

[raym...@nospam.raleigh.ibm.com]

I've often wondered about belt dressing. I figured that the cost of
the belt is about $11 (from Saturn) and that it is pretty easy
(usually) to change and they don't have to be changed all that often.
I now change them every 30K but I went as much as 90K with them. I
was getting this swooshing sound around the s-belt. I brought it to
the dealer and the "service advisor" said it was the idler pulley. I
believe the idler pulley is the bottom most element in the belt
system. I noticed that the swooshing sound got much worse when
driving in the fog or rain. Changed the belt and all was fine.

[Robota897]

>2cha...@bellsouth.net wrote;

>I have a 98 Saturn SL2 with 42k miles. The serpentine belt has started to
>squeak. Is there any way that it can be tightened?

The belt tensioner is spring loaded to maintain tension on the belt. I doubt
if the belt has stretched sufficiently to have lost tension in 42k miles. May
be a problem with the tensioner. There has been some problems with tensioner
pulley bearings squealling (often on cold mornings). Or the tensioner joint
itself could have failed and not keeping tension on the belt. I've seen where
over time belts will age and making a light squeaking noise on the pulleys at
idle that is annoying, but not a functional concern. Only fix for that is to
replace the belt. It will go away temporarily by squirting silicone etc on the
belt, but it always comes back in a short time.
Tom

[Robin McCrum]

Check the belt tensioner for full travel. The spring in the tensioner may not
be putting full tension on the belt.Or the belt is drying out and starting to
look brownish.

charlie wrote:

> Hi!

>
> I have a 98 Saturn SL2 with 42k miles. The serpentine belt has started to
> squeak. Is there any way that it can be tightened?
>

> Thanks