Hey guys, sorry to start another one of these, but I am somewhat at a loss here. I've read as many forum threads and watched all the youtube videos I could find, and I have tried many things, but there is still something causing my belt to squeal, and twice now the belt was walked back a rib on the crank pulley. Here's the series of events:

1. Bought XJ with a squeaking belt

2. Replaced idler pulley and power steering pump pulley (idler looked very old, P/S was plastic and had a piece broken off; replaced with metal) and installed a spare belt that came with the Jeep. Belt squeal seemed to get better but still chirped, tried belt dressing, big mistake. Got insanely loud!

3. Removed belt, spun all the pulleys by hand, checked for irregularities in the ribs and whatnot, nothing that stood out to me. The backside of the water pump pulley was a little jagged so I sanded it down (maybe need to replace this), ran a pick through all the grooved pulleys, installed brand new belt.

4. Was fine for a couple days, then started to chirp. On my drive home last night, it walked back a rib on the harmonic balancer pulley and began to split. Hobbled the Jeep back home.

5. Today, removed the belt, checked with a level to see if any of the pulleys seemed crooked, didn't *seem* that way (maybe not the best way to check). Cleaned the pulleys once again, installed new belt. In just a few minutes, the pulley walked back a rib AGAIN on the harmonic balancer, so I shut it down. Tried adjusting the belt tension on the power steering pump, still chirps.

At this point I suspect either the power steering pump is misaligned (how would I check for and correct this?) or the harmonic balancer pulley is doing something funky that I can't see with the naked eye. I really need to have this sorted this weekend; I don't have another vehicle at the moment and can't afford to throw a belt on my way to work or whatever. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

 

It may be worth pulling the electric fan and taking a look at it all while it's running. You might be able to spot the belt being pulled and what is causing it.

 

Is the harmonic balancer seperating? The inner portion, rubber section in between, and the outer section should all line up. When they start going bad, the outer portion will walk forwards or backwards. Sometimes enough to start rubbing on the timing cover.

As you've learned, belt dressing is a bad idea. It just gums everything up and makes it worse. Clean all that crap off. You might need a new belt. Also pickup a Kricket-II so you can properly set the belt tension instead of guessing. Too loose and it's noise, way too tight and you're destroying bearings.

 

That's how I have it now; I have the electric fan and mechanical fan shrouds removed as well as the airbox. It got too cold today to mess with it outside any longer; will spend more time with it tomorrow.

 

Tried a bunch of things unsuccessfully, going to try replacing the water pump (it has minor play) and the fan clutch bearing (can see it walking the belt back and forth a little). I found the Omix-Ada 17104.83 water pump bearing that supposedly works. Will order it up and try installing when it comes in. Wish me luck!

 

One tip ol' Pat Goss gives is to make sure all your pulleys and belts are clean, as in take the belt off and clean the surface of each pulley with soapy water, belt too. Any grease, oil, or dirt on those surfaces can cause your belt to squeak. Not sure if break cleaner is the right potion for this either.

 

I'm guessing it's a separating harmonic balancer pulley. Probably time to pull it and put a new one on there. They are readily available at your local parts retailer and the retailer will have the proper puller and installer available as loaner tools. I would do this for sure.

Then I'd get a Continental elite belt (formerly Goodyear Gatorback)... those belts are freakin' awesome.

Proper tension matters, but you're definitely getting something rubbing/cutting in order to mangle a brand new belt that quickly.

Also, as dumb as it sounds, verify that you're routing the thing correctly. The P.O. may have had it wrong - there's either a sticker under the hood or check your Factory Service Manual.

 

Definitely routed correctly; had it off and on a good half dozen times now. I don't suspect the harmonic balancer; it looks straight as an arrow when its running. I may try the Elite belt just for extra assurance once I get the W/P and fan bearing replaced.

 

Is the outer half of the harmonic balancer even with the inner half? It doesn't have to be crooked to be bad. When the rubber middle section goes bad the outer half can move inward or outward giving your exact symptoms. Have a look at https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/har...lancer-164342/ for an obviously bad one.

 

Is the PS pulley seated properly?
I had a similar issue, and I think it ended up being the pulley not seating properly when I put a new PS pump in

 

I discovered that my water pump was scored on the inside; the impeller had been scraping inside the water pump. I ordered and installed a new AC Delco water pump, and everything was nice and quiet for about five minutes then it started screaming! Could I have over-tensioned the belt and damaged the new water pump?? I have a replacement on its way. Its a different noise than what I heard before, but definitely coming from the water pump area.

 

The belt tension spec on an XJ is pretty high... anything's possible, but I wouldn't suspect that right away as the issue.

Did you check the power steering pulley as Investinwaffles suggested? Your original post mentions that this problem appeared after replacing the PS pump.

If I were firing the parts cannon, I'd be loading a new PS pump with the pulley (and preferably the reservoir as well) already mounted.

 

Whatever that noise was stopped the next day, no idea where it came from or where it went. We seem to be in the clear now? How odd.

 

So this ended up being the issue! I pressed the pulley too far onto the pump, which is what caused the belt to be too far back and to come off the crank pulley from the rear. Once I pulled the pulley forward a few MM, everything has seemed to be pretty good. Wow, what an ordeal! I can finally count on this thing to get me where I need to go without issue. *Whew*