My serpentine belt will not stop squeaking on my 98 XJ. I have tried everything, unless anyone else has some advice or keys that I am missing. I have bought three new belts. Tried belt dressing. Tried tightening in small increments from loose to fully tightened. I have tried dielectric grease. I tried belt dressing. I have taken the belts off and cleaned every single pulley.
However,when I reinstalled my new power steering pump, it is not flush. It might be over pressed slightly. Can anyone else confirm that this may be the root of all my problems?

 

I'll get a picture in a few minutes

 

Here's the power steering pulley.

 

is it a bird chirp squeal or a loud annoying squeal? Bird chirp could be a tensioner pulley or idler, the annoying one could be that the power sterring pump is not lined up right.. My 2000 xj was squealing bad and my harmonic balancer was coming apart and moved a inch foward. Might check that also..

 

Well, did the belt squealing problem start after you replaced the steering pump? If so, I'd say the pump pulley is possibly not aligned properly.

 

Skip the belt dressing for serpentine belts. A tiny bit can help some with an old v-belt, but it can actually make noise on a serpentine belt "worse".

Gotta find the root cause and power steering is absolutely in play if the noise started AFTER that repair.

 

Check the bearings in your alternator it could be locking up

 

Bought mine had this problem . PO said he parked it on account of this (squeel). Four years later I bought this jeep changed alternator & belt all was fine till the lil demons from sitting kicked in , I then changed an idler pulley & my compressor clutch acts up when a/c or defrost is engaged. I have been lubricating a/c clutch time to time as it had surface rust on face from sitting . Come summer if not gone I will do clutch for compressor or probably get a used compressor.

 

I'm hearing two different squeals and chirps now. Sound like its getting worse.

 

It chirped a little bit, but I put a little dielectric grease then it stopped. Replaced the alternator, put everything back together and now it's making a lot more noise again.

 

New alternator. Granted, my last AutoZone alternator only lasted two months...

 

I read a little bit and it looks like the harmonic balancer is not supposed to have any wobble at all. And mine does have a slight wobble as I watch it.

 

Definately shouldn't be wobbling at all.. probably the rubber is worn out. Replace asap, they can end up grinding on the front of your engine. Here's a nice video I found on another forum regarding belt squeeks screechin' and chirpin'.
http://www.cherokeetalk.com/forum/f2...ust-see-16960/