The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Dog gone belts

OK SBC 350, 100 amp alternator, a/c and the darn V belts squeal on take off from a stop and picking up speed. I've tried everything I can think of. They are tight, I've even tried the belt dressing and that actually made it worse. The pullies are billet aluminum and I'm thinking thats the problem, they're slick and no grip for the belts. I'm thinking about trying a fine grit sandpaper to rough up the groves in the pullies for more grip. What do you guys think??

i would rather take them and carefully blast the groves in a blasting cabinet ,i have had to do that in the past when they get glazed !

Ditto on the beadblasting, but take the pulley off the alternator first. Grit inside that unit isn't its friend and you can't seal it up well enough to keep the dust out. You could always go to an original-type pulley and solve the problem for good!
Jerry

Bluepen,

Once a belt squeals a few times it usually glazes and cooks which kills it gripping ability. If you have the proper number of belts powering each accessory, I would replace them, tension them correctly and give it another try.

Be sure to re-tighten them after a few days as they stretch quite a bit after initial installation. Look around and make sure oil or antifreeze isn't being blown on them from the fan or leaking on them somehow.

Cleaning the sheaves of all accumulated crud isn't a bad idea but I don't know is they need to be abraded. The rubber belt has tons of tractive effort, even on a smooth pulley.

Stuart

make sure the two pulleys are actually parallel to each other as well as inline with each other. i use a small keychain laser beam that i got at the hardware store, it is about 1/2" dia. and about 3" long. i lay it in the groove of one pulley and it should point to the center of the groove on the other pulley, and it self-centers itself. if one pulley is cocked slightly it really shows up. you have to do this with the belt off and then make sure the pulley doesn't cock itself when you put the belt back on. squeals can show up when the belt has more traction on one side of the pulley than the other. if they are lined up, belt is good and have the correct tension they should not squeal even on a slick pulley.

about my laser, i have tested it by rotating it in a pulley and pointed to a stationary marked spot, so i know the laser is comming out of it's holder in the center of it.

You said belts. How many belts and which one is squealing? You didn't say if any of the pulleys squealed at start up? Do any of the pulleys make too little contact with the belt? 1/4 of the circumference or less? Do any of the pulleys need to be made larger to improve the contact area and reduce the speed of the accessory?
A picture of the setup would go a long way.

WD-40 says it stops squeaks did it to my dads ford and they don't squeak anymore.