belt squeal -- which one?

[trd_4runnin]

98 T4R limited. 97k miles. It has a belt squeal that I have just started noticing recently. Doesn't seem to have anything to do with the weather or temperature or things like that. But I notice it only squeals when idling or when coming to a stop and the RPMs are below 1000.

My gut says alternator belt but I thought I would ask here before I go messing with things. Also, if it is in fact the alternator, is this adjustable. On my civic I just had to loosen a couple of bolts and slide the alternator back with a pry bar and tighten the bolts back up.

Thanks in advance!

 

[techno]

How do you expect people to diagnose which belt squeaks over the internet? There's only three to choose from anyway.
Have you checked the ARRC site? There is some info on belt maintenance there. There are auto tensioners on the engine so that shouldnt be a problem but you can check anyway. And you can check that the tensioner is still within the correct range.

 

[trd_4runnin]

Most of the time different belts sqeal at different times. For instance, if you when you start up your car and you get a loud belt squeal for a few seconds and then it goes away. Its 99% of the time going to be an alternator, and an A/C belt would obviously only squeal when the A/C is on.

Not to mention I figured there is a pretty good possibility that someone else has gone through this same thing lately and could shed some light via personal experience.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[p nut]

Well, you could get some belt dressing, then apply it to the belts one at a time to figure out which was making the noise. Can't really say without being there in person.

 

[Tomsriv]

How old is the belt? 99% chance that the belt is bad, anything else is a temporary fix. Squealing will glaze the belt and further tightening will not stop the squealing. You could also have a bad idler , but it is most likely the belt. Which reminds me, I should replace mine. I have 170k on the clock and they look like original belts!

 

[onesojourner]

does the 3.4 use a serpentine belt?

(I am in the market. thats why am asking)

 

[trd_4runnin]

does the 3.4 use a serpentine belt?

(I am in the market. thats why am asking)

No it does not, timing belt and then three? drive belts.