Hey all this be my second post on here so hopefully this in the right spot! anyway I have a 1994 Jeep Cherokee SE 2WD 2DR 5 Speed that I bought from a bargin lot 4 months back for a hefty $1500. It had 168,500 original miles on it. Now in the 4 months I've gotten it up to 173,800 just driving to work and the only thing I've had an issue with was the Harmonic Balencer came completely off while on the highway a couple weeks back. well got that replaced, heres the kicker though. at the shop in which i will never go back to the guy put the original belt on the jeep that the harmonic balencer broke on, now keep in mind that this belt was fairly new but it had a tear from when it must of hit the fan while driving, the mechanic put the belt back on.. needless to say he had to replace it when it started flapping a few miles down the road. well as i drove it home i noticed two new noises which was strange as this jeep has barely made a noise except a valve flapping or some sort of noise when it first starts but since he replaced the belt its been making a squeeling noise. i've tried many different things suggested by people. First was WD-40 which worked for a few minutes next I tried two different bel-EZ' one from Napa and the other from walmart. neither worked. I also tried rubbing a bar of soap and water on the belt, that only made it louder after a short period and its stopped occasionally once the jeep has been running for a short time. I would like it to stop But I'm not sure what it could be and not being very mechanically smart I dont know what steps i should take but if someone can point me what to do i should be able to fix it. thanks!

 

the belts on the 4.0 need to be ***** tight. normally to check a serpentine belt you twist it and want it to only go 90 degrees from position..... with a 4.0 you want half that +/- at least that's what stopped mine from squealing.

 

Great info but this is the 2.5L 4 cylinder. I'm not sure if its lose or too tight but the belt itself feels fine. thanks for the quick response, i wasnt expecting a response or one for a few days!

 

any serpentine belt check is the same 90 degrees is the min on twist less is what's wanted...... unless yours has an auto adjust idler pully? then that may be going bad. It may not be the belt at all and could be a bearing in the pully system.

 

My first jeep had the 2.5 and had the same problem. I tightened the belt and it stopped. Hope you figure it out

 

Try getting the belt a little tighter. And what ever you do DO NOT put any kind of belt dressing on a serpentine belt. It just causes the belt to slip more and crap out sooner.

 

Since you've already doused the belt with all kinds of crap, replace it. Get it tight, then recheck in 100 miles and tighten again. That belt was more than likely fine, they just stretch a bit after driving and need to be snugged up again.

 

^Very true, I should have mentioned that too! Glad you said something^
The worst thing you did was spray all that crap on the belt and you will be having to change it out soon anyways.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone.. anyway this is a new belt only a few weeks old and i've put that stuff on it to stop the squealing.. so your saying because i used all that I'm going to need to replace the belt again? Before the Harmonic balencer went out I never had this squeaking. I also didnt have it when the stupid mechanic put the old torn belt back on.

Here is a video of the Jeep starting and running. As you can hear it has one other noise.. the knocking/clicking sound. I believe this to be the exhaust as it came unbolted from the end of the motor near the firewall and needs to be replaced. I have another topic on that tho.

http://youtu.be/1tMDQVjn9-A

 

Yes, start with a fresh belt, tighten correctly. Drive 100 miles and retighten. Done.