Kymasabe

Occasionally when I start my '99 Cherokee, the belt squeals, volt gauge reads low, steering is heavy, but is temporary, goes away after a minute but...if I hit a puddle, belt chirps for a few seconds and volt gauge drops immediately to 9 volts like the gauge is dead. But, if I turn the jeep off and restart it, gauge comes back to life.
Those are the only conditions it occurs under, otherwise is fine.

BlueRidgeMark

Belts are marginal. When wet, they slip more. The alternator gets wet pretty easily if you don't have the splash guard in place, and a lot of Cherokees don't.

investinwaffles

I would remove the belt and check all of the pulleys to see if any feel rough or hard to turn. Alternator, AC Compressor, Water Pump, Power Steering all have bearings that can go bad and put extra resistance on the drive belt.

Then, inspect the belt and clean it thoroughly, clean all of the pulleys as well (I just use degreaser). Reinstall the belt and make sure you tension it properly. Use one of those Krikit II belt tension gauges to get it 100% accurate (I ended up buying one and have used it on many vehicles).

The belt is either undertensioned, or one of the front accessories is going bad. I don't have any belt squeal when I get it wet

EEVEE

get a new belt and avoid huge puddles lol. You most likely dont have a splash shield under your jeep because mine does the same thing when hitting puddles. Also it will ruin your alternator so be wary on them. but if you wanna keep the belt try tightening it or inspecting it like above posts.

Kymasabe

I was doing that today, looking for the spring loaded tensioner pulley and didn't find one, then realized the XJ doesn't have one and it's some archaic manual tensioner on the power steering pump. That was a surprise. So now I need to dig out my old Haynes manual to read up on how to replace the serp belt.

Ralph77

Take a 15 mm to the bolt in the center of the pulley under the PS pump. Just crack it loose. Use the 15 mm and start turning the bolt that you see on top of the bracket counter clockwise to loosen the belt. I suggest you invest in one of these.



I used to go by the "Yeah that looks about right" method. Then bought that tool above. You would be surprised how much more you tighten the belt to achieve spec. People have posted 180 to 200 lbs for a new belt and 140 to 160 lbs for an old one. I use the appropriate number at the lower end of the scale.

missedbass

Is the a/c on when you start it? Try starting it with the a/c off.

Desertfox1023

You've either got a loose belt or you've got a pulley bearing causing a lot of drag / locked up.

Check tension first, if that doesn't do it then pull the belt and free spin the pulleys to see which one is causing the issue.

mannydantyla

My favorite way to check if the belt is tight enough is to grab it at a spot where its furthest from two pulleys, like between the AC and alternator, or between the AC and water pump, and try to twist it 90 degrees. If you can just barely twist it 90 degrees, then its good.

Or, try cranking the harmonic dampener or the fan pulley and see if its able to pull all the accessories

mannydantyla

+1

PatHenry

The 10th generation Corolla (made until 2014) uses a manual tensioner and I'm sure there are plenty of other examples. It's no more archaic than using gasoline engines.

jordan96xj

I'm actually fond of the manual tension setup. On my other Jeeps (grand cherokees) it was the spring based one that would get corroded and stop doing its job and need replacing. The manual one has no moving parts, and nothing to wear out.

outersketcher

splash guard? Our alts have splash guards? what do they look like?

Ralph77

It is called a mud shield. Just a big piece of rubber. Thing next to the front skid plate.

Batman33165

That splash guard is interesting, never knew they had something like that...