DSMTalk Forums: Mitsubishi Eclipse, Plymouth Laser, and Eagle Talon Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Serpentine Belt Problems

Jump to Latest
1 - 20 of 33 Posts

jordan080303

· Registered
Joined
·
1,557 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
I have posted a similar thread to this on dsm1eights.com, and have received decent advice, however; I assumed I would get more traffic on this site.

Background: I recently purchased a '93 Eclipse 1.8L (11/05/07). The previous owner replaced the serpentine belt in recent months, but within a few days after I purchased the car, the belt began to squeak/squeal whenever the car was started/or when accelerating. At first, I started to tighten/loosen the belt to see if this would help. It worked at first, but the belt began to squeal again within a few days. Within a week or two after I bought the car (about 11/16/07), the serpentine belt broke. I replaced the belt, and it ran fine that night. 3 days after replacing the belt, the squealing came back again. I took off the belt, and checked all the pulleys. I thoroughly cleaned each pulley, and made sure they were tight. Also, I made sure that the pulleys/belt were not rubbing against anything. Anyway, the belt is still squealing today, and I am out of ideas. I have tried tightening/loosening it many times, but this only helps temporarily. If any one has had similar problems, or any advice, it is greatly appreciated.

P.S. I also had made sure that the alternator is working properly, as I thought this might be a cause. It works fine.
 
Discussion starter · #2 ·
Also: The serpentine belt attaches to (3) pulleys. The middle/bottom pulley (may be connected to the water pump) does NOT spin when tried to rotate hand. Should it? Maybe I need to loosen it. If so, how do I get to the bolts on it (it is a tight area).
 
#3 · (Edited)
Sounds like what happened to mine just before the bearings in the A/C compressor went out. Hopefully you didn't over-tighten the belts. Over-tightenning them will cause premature death of the bearings. From memory, if you have a standard set of box-end/open end combo wrenches, and a regular socket set with extensions, you should be able to get at whatever you need.

I would take all the belts loose and spin each pully to see if there is any catch in them. If you find one that doesn't spin freely, it probably needs to be replaced. That excludes the crank (the bottom one) pulley of couse. The rest of them should spin OK, even the water pump.
 
#4 ·
One more tip: If its the A/C compressor bearings, like mine was, it will only squeel or break belts when the A/C is on, since the clutch must be engaged. That is unless the clutch/pully mechanism itself is what is causing the problem.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Can somone please tell me WHICH pulley is the water pump pulley? It seems that a common problem is that this pulley is installed backwards during re-installation. Also, how can I tell if this pulley is on backwards?
 
#7 ·
The water pump pully is somewhat in the middle of all of the other ones, and by far the most difficult one to fix. Its not the power stearing, which is the front most one on top, or the alternator, which is the front most one on bottom. There is also a tensioner pulley, that is smallish, and has a hex bolt right behind the pulley for adjusting tension (you probably know the one I mean). Sometimes those go out as well. Usually if the water pump is bad you start leaking coolant, but that's not allways the case. If it needs to be replaced, you'll be replacing the timing belt at the same time.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
was tinkering around today and realized that perhaps the belt could be tightened a little more. It really is not that tight. My current method for tigthening to use a long skiny metal bar I have and pry back the alternator until the belt seems tight. I haven't had trouble doing this alone, but the belt seems to be slightly loose each time after doing this. What do you guys use to pry back the alternator. Also, I have been loosening the 12mm bolt on the right side of the alternator to do this, this is the only bolt, correct?
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
Update: Well I have been battling with this belt for the last two weeks, but to no avail. I have tigthened it over 50 times this weeks trying to stop the squeaking, but no luck whatsoever. I have tried different tensions, tools, etc. Since there are always new guys coming on here, I thought I'd see if any of you have any tips on stopping DSM belt squeal. You older guys are welcome too, but you already had to help me with this crap before.

Anyway, like I stated before, all of the pulley's seem ok. I will get the squeaking to stop for a day or two, then it comes back. It usually takes 4-5 attempts to quiet the thing, but like I said, it'll come back within days. I am clueless to the fix for this problem. Any advice is helpful.
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
Well, I had a crappy last two days.

I took the Eclipse up to my buddies shop yesterday to have him look at the pulley's, belt, etc (since I cannot seem to fix this on my own). He could not find anything that would be causing the belt to squeak/break. I have a new belt on for now, but I really need to figure out what is causing the noise/breakage soon. Of course, the thing is already squeaking again, and it's only 1 day old

I noticed something on the way home from work tonight. My guage lights dim/brighten as I drive at night. It seems that when they become dim, the squeaking would stop, and when they brighten up again, the belt squeaks. What could cause this?

Finally, when I had went out to my car yesterday morning to go to the shop, I noticed right away that the brakes weren't working properly. The petal was going straight to the floor with no feedback in the brake system. I was able to get it there, and right away he found a leak in the brake line. The right rear line leading to the caliper (?) was extremely rusted and had a pinhole in it. Turns out the the entire rear line is was rusted to shit, and wasn't holding fluid at all. My buddy went ahead and replaced the entire brake line system free of charge (still can't figure out why), so I owe him big time. Just curious, what would this normally run somebody?

But yeah, this serpentine belt is biopolar, one minute it's fine and dandy, next minute its screaming. I feel like I have tried everything, and am about to give up.
 
#13 · (Edited)
[Your alternator could cause that problem] *edited*

There are only 3 things I can think of that will cause your problem:
1) Backwards WP pulley
2) Bad bearing on pulley
3) Half broken crank pulley

It sounds like you have checked thoroughly; but just to be clear:

Take all the belts off. Rotate each pulley by hand at least 360*
It should feel smooth but firm. No rough spots. It should have no side to side movement, and if you spin it (like a top/not just rotating), it should stop moving very shortly after you have applied the "twist"

If all checks out, check the spacing on the waterpump pulley from the timing belt cover. If it is on correctly, the pulley should almost touch the cover, if it's on wrong, you will have a noticeable gap (about 3/16") Trust me, I know cause I have done this. Note: a belt that has been on a dsm with backwards wp pulley will show more wear on one side than the other, and the ribs in the serpentine belt will be stretched more than normal.

If that checks out, put on the alt, wp, and crank belt only. Try to eyeball the belt and make sure it is very straight. Use a straight edge and good lighting to make sure it's straight. If it looks straight, the start the car and see if you can get the squeel to go away through tension.

If you can't solve the problem this way, try belt dressing. If it persists, inspect your crank pulley for cracks in the rubber piece (there are 2 metal pieces on your crank pulley and they are held together by rubber. When the rubber begins to fail it can cause the belts to misalign as the crank pulley separates from itself).

I know it's long, hope this helps you.
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
Ok, thanks a lot. I will try all of that this weekend. A few questions:

1) Is there a way to tell if the waterpump pulley is on backwards by simply looking at it? It is very close to the timing belt cover as you stated. I have not found that that one side of the belt shows more wear than the other, it just seems to wear evenly if anything.

I have belt dressing, but this doesn't do anything for me. It keeps the sound away for a bit, but that's about it.
 
#16 ·
no, that's the crank pulley. It moves with the motor's internal parts. You don't need to worry about that one moving freely cause it won't!!!

just check the condition of it (ie cracked rubber) and check the straightness of the belt like stated.

Where does the belt seem to break? Does it shred?
 
#17 ·
oh yeah, how's the spacing of the ribs look? When I had my pulley on backwards I noticed the ribs spread out more (1/8") duh.... Doesn't sound like your problem though.

When the pulley is on backwards, it's not so obvious. But it will stick out a bit more than in the correct position. I mean the pulley should damn near touch the timing cover.
 
Discussion starter · #18 ·
Well the pulley defintely is near touching the plastic cover. I observed the belt while spinning and it wasn't being interferred with at all, so I figured that was fine.

The belt broke this past week with a pattern of wear in the middle. It was to the point where you could poke your finger right through the middle of the grooves. I think this was caused by overtightening, way after the fact that the belt was continually slipping. I never seem to find wear on the outer edges.
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
Like I said, I will try and see if the pulleys appear ok again, as you suggested. Hopefully can get to that this weekend, or Monday at the latest. I will try spinning them, seeing they move in or out, etc. From what I can tell, they are not chipped. They are cleaned up of any grease/rubber also.

The last time I personally took off the belts to check the pulleys myself was in November. I am trying to remember how long it took me. How long should I give myself? I just want to make sure I have enough time before work, or if I should wait. Is it necessary to take off the right side motor mount? I remmber having to do this last time for some reason.
 
1 - 20 of 33 Posts
About this Discussion
32 Replies
3 Participants
Last post:
jordan080303
DSMTalk Forums: Mitsubishi Eclipse, Plymouth Laser, and Eagle Talon Forum
posts
2.3M
members
104K
Since
2000
A forum community dedicated to Mitsubishi Eclipse, Plymouth Laser and Eagle Talon owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, turbos, builds, modifications, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
General DSM Tech and Tuning Help! Tech Newbie Questions Forum Body Tech and Appearance Electronics Tech