Got a 00 sport. Have replaced the following : new belt, new alternator, new idler pulley, new power steering pump and pulley. The belt is tight, but not overtightened. The darn thing is driving me crazy... it does it at all times. Hot and cold. (The more you accelerate the louder it gets.) I know a Guy who has the same issue with the chirping and squealing and has replaced the same amount of parts. Anything else i need to check let me know. I cant take it anymore

 

How do you know that the belt is tight enough?

 

x2.
How is ac? If ac clutch is going then it can cause this. I scrapped mine and did a free spinning pulley- wish I'd have made it into OBA, but no squeal was the goal..

 

"The belt is tight, but not overtightened."



?

 

Trust me i know its tight.

 

My heat and ac works fine. It squeals regardless of the heat or Ac being on or off

 

The a/c might be working ok but if the bearings are going bad it can cause the pulley not to spin freely. If it is not spinning freely, it can cause belt squeal. Any other pulleys not spinning freely can cause this also.

 

 

This tool may be helpful

 

Please see above image.

 

I'm not gonna trust you until you tell me how you know your belt is tight. My experience with XJs is that the belt needs to be tighter than usual, no more than 1/2 inch deflection in the center of the largest gap.

 

Good call about the tension gauge. Thanks.

 

If you find that the tension is correct, take your belt off and check each pulley by hand. Make sure everything spins smooth and free. Are all the pulleys lined up, none of them are bent? Pulley alignment issues cause squeaking as well. Check the belt itself, too. Sometimes parts sit on shelves and hangers for a loooooong time. Never had a bad belt before, but it wouldn't suprise me. My .02 cents.

 

This.

 

Yea man, its a brand new belt. And its TIGHT! It does say made in USA not sure what brand. The only other things in the realm of possibility i could think of would be water pump pulley and the crank below it. But they appear tight so im lost.