Hello. 1994 4.0, auto...I have a steady squeaking noise coming from near the front center of my engine but as we all know once you sick your head in there it`s kind of hard to be sure exactly where it`s coming from. The noise isn't a steady endless squeal it is a slower muffled squeak... squeak...squeak which happens once every half second or so. Since everything else in that area is turning at a lot higher rate than that I`m thinking (hoping) just the blades in the water pump catching on each revolution? It seems to speed up some when the engine is speeded up and gets slightly less loud as the engine gets warm. Thanks in advance for any input.

With the engine running, spray the belt with WD40 (enough to get the whole belt). Does it stop?

What Codexj said, if that doesn't stop it check the idler pulley bearings. That is what it was on my Blazer and my wife's Regal.

I`ll go try it right now after just asking one question..Won`t that make the belt slick and slip?

Is that hard to replace?

Thanks. I tried spraying the belt and the squeaking got worse and louder. I then took a can of the new formula Liquid Wrench with the long thin spray nozzle and blasted it into the gap of the bearings behind the idler pulley and the squeaking seems to have gone away so I`m assuming that was the cause. Do you think doing that was enough or would it be wise to replace the idler pulley/bearing anyway?

Replace it and it's not hard to do at all, how long it will take depends on your mechanical abilities.