The squeeling fan belt any ideas ???

[transit hubcap]

Hi to All you Transit lovers , looking for some advice with a swueeling fan belt , was in the van a 2.4 rwd 2002 model when I bought it , thought it was the alternator and changed it and the clutch pully thing on the end of it still no use , then someone said to get e new fan belt which I did and hey presto the noise disappeared . Havent done much milage over the winter as its a camper van now but guess what the noise from the belt is back again .Swapped back to the origional belt again and it sounds fine but who knows for how long . has anyone out there had this problem with their Transit , sounds very like a slipping belt , whistling noise like a dry bearing about to give it up ,is there anything to put on the belt to stop it slipping ??? Your thoughts are much appreciated . Regards , Transit Hubcap .
PS Concidered wearing ear plugs when driving but still its so annoying !!!!!

[pluspetit]

Hi,

we have had exact the same problems. Our 2002 125PS is a camper too and only driven from April to October. When te problem occured first, Ford changed every pulley and the belt. That fixed the problem but costed 750 Euro!! One year later, the same problem in April. Now we had waranty for this fault. Now Ford didnt change all, they just changed the spanning pulley and belt and that worked.- Maybe one year earlier this would have been enough?
The dealer told me to drive the car at least once every month to prevent the problem. So we did. And this april: no problem.

To mee it seems as if the bearing of the pulley runs out of oil and is rusting ?

Greetings from Stutensee, Germany

Gernot

[angeleye]

try changing bearings in idler pulley and tentioner pulley there a press fit..£3/£4 ea get them from local bearing stockist..suggest problem is lack of engine being started..and pulley bearing rusting due to no lubrication spinning round

[ALZI1967]

I just changed the belt again on mine,it seemed to get some type of residue on it , it cured mine .

[uksoftware]

I wonder if you can get some spray for the belt, not like WD40 or anthing like that, but more a water dispersant.
I had this before and the mechanic explained that even a fine/small amount of water in one of the tracks on the belt causes this horrible squeek! and it`s very hard to burn it off. He sprayed mine with something and it went.

[jay]

belt consitioner..

[mealic]

Try some talcum powder,don`t do it with the engine running though or you will look and smell like a powder "puff".

And I`m being serious (for a change)

[albion1938]

Two common causes I've come across on all makes of vehicle. First, on motors that aren't used much --- the shiny polished pulley goes rusty, when you run it, the belt rubs the rust off, the rust builds up and embeds itself in the rubber until, instead of rubber to metal, you've got metal to metal contact. Either run the engine more often or expect to change the belt more often. You could try taking the belt off and gently wire brushing it. Spraying it with belt dressing usually helps at first, but it sounds even worse when that wears off. The other cause that I've come up against is on vehicles used a lot off-road and on rough back roads. Tiny stones get picked up in the belt and embed in the rubber, make quite a noise when they're rubbing on the pulley. If you're patient you can take the belt off and dig the stones out with a pointed instrument, otherwise, new belt!
Bernard

[3mendous]

sounds silly but treacle works a treat