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Serpentine belt chirping


lemdog

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Hello all,

2011 RT here.   So about back in August,  during morning warm up driving,  maybe about 10min or less,  i would get a continuous belt chirp and as soon as things warmed up,  it was gone for rest of the day.   

Its not a squeel or anything, just a minor chirping as things are rotating.   I figured once things warmed up more,  it would be fine.

BUT,   being the tinkering person I am,  i knew i had a can of belt dressing in the garage,  so last week i decided to give the belt a spray down to see if it got rid of the not-really-that-annoying chirping.
(i do a LOT of my own maintenance on my vehicles to save $$$)


well,  it made it WORSE and now it is constant and louder through continuous driving ALL day long.

the only time it goes quiet is when i come to a complete stop and idle below 1000rpm after quite some time of being warm.

But as soon as you breath on the gas pedal,  it starts and gets louder the higher you rev.

i should have just left it alone,  but too late now.   I am wondering,  could simple belt dressing cause it to get worse?   

 

Is it rubbing?  Does the belt require replacing?   is there a pully gone or tension needs adjusting?

when i do a simple test of spraying a bit of water on the spinning belt,  the noise completely goes away....... until the water dries up and it comes back.

 

It appears that only when moisture is on the belt/pullies,  the noise goes away,  but when it dries (even the belt dressing?) it all comes back.

its just annoying driving around with this loud "wiggity-wiggity-wiggity" style of chirp.

 

i work hard to keep my DJ running long, smooth and quiet as she is getting old in the mileage.   I take care of my vehicles and make them last as long as they can.

any input or thoughts or suggestions ?

if its a belt replacement,  how "fun" is that to do on this engine and its lovely tight compartment?

thanks!

 

 

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well your belt may have stretched a bit, and  since you gave no mileage on the journey but with the age it wouldn't hurt to replace it but if you do ALWAYS replace the belt tensioner as well and it isn't cheap on this journey but they do weaken over age and also when you release the tension on it, it may not go back to the proper tension and let the new belt come off and get ruined...this happened to my fathers van yrs ago so dont cheap out on it. also the noise could be from one of the other pulleys that the belt turns but since you say its a chirp and not a squeal or hum i would just do the belt first, and have never tried it on my journey but it does look tight ,but look on u tube there should be a video on how to do it.

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thanks for the reply,   yes after i posted i realized i didnt mention mileage.    i should have.      about 150,000km give or take a couple thousand.    but around there.  (convert to miles for U.S. reading)

i was just surprised that as soon as i added the dressing and the dressing dried it immediately became constant.    i did give it a good coating and it did go quiet,  until it dried.

(same with the water test)

no humming, whirring, screeching like you would get on an old fan belt or anything that really sounds like pulley bearings.   

 

definitely a chirping sound like rubbing or catching   (chirpity-chirpity-chirpity-chirpity!    say that fast and for a while,  thats the sound i hear.    haha!!)

 

it is annoying to hear especially in city driving.   i am an attraction with the noise for sure!

i will take a look at some more you toob videos to see what it takes to replace our belt + tensioner.    i couldnt find a heck of a lot the other day on my initial search.

 

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Same thing happened to my Chrysler Sebring.  Got REALLY noisy after spraying beltdressing.  Hit the belts with some silicone spray and noise is gone.  No  slippage noted, everything running great. These belts were less then 6 months old, tensioner replaced when the noise started.  That was in March of this year, still no noise..

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i typed in 2011 journey serpentine belt replacement  u tube and it brought up a bunch of sites one showing directions on how to replace the belt but i cant copy the address and have it come back up, any ways just keep looking and you will find it,also a 2011 caravan would be the same way might check that out. article stated not to hard to do now replacing the belt tensioner  would add some hardship and cost but i would do that as well   since your journey is 7 yrs old and going thur salt and winter weather your tensioner probally needs to be changed ......your choice

Edited by 2late4u
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ok thanks!    yes i will hunt down the video(s) for sure.   again i am always willing to do my own maintenance to save on $.

i was trying to find similar engine layouts like the more recent 3.6L caravans.     i went to go look at the belt diagram under the hood but it wasn't there for some reason.
just to get a visualization of whats going on down in there and how it all snakes around.

 

yup,  LOTS of salty roads up here in winter.    i get my car under-sprayed each fall every year.   not too expensive yearly,  but worth it in the long run.

 

if i get anywhere with the belt or tensioner,  i will post back to update for the benefit of others.

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