Ive hand my sedan for a litlle over a year now. Everything worked well as it should for about three months.
One of the belts or idlers started squealing every once in a while then progressively got worse. Installed gates racing belts. Didnt fix it.. Replaced the two smaller idlers.. didnt go away. Suspected it was the alternator. replaced that. didnt go away. Replaced the idler thats unnecesary and it fixed the constant noise but now it squeals relly bad usually after about a minute that its been running then my battery and brake lights blink together once and the squeal stops. Also when i turn all the way to either side the makes kind of a humming noise and continues even after ive straightened the wheels...
Could i have the belts too tight or too loose? a misaligned pulley, but if it was mis aligned it would likely wear the belt quicker or pop it off, right?
The a/c pulley doesnt make noise when it kicks on or off.
The sound comes from the passenger side.
Any suggestions on what and how the check it would be much appreciated.

 

How much slack do you have on the belts?

 

Sounds like they are loose....

 

Had same problem, did same things, stopped it, now it's back.

 

pushing on any given area about 3/8-1/4 of an inch?
i dont have a gauge to measure it. ive always had automatic tensioners on my previous vehicles so not exactly sure how tight they need to be

 

so here is what its doing. rite before i took this, the lights were flickering and the blower speed would fluctuate

 

Sounds like your belts are loose. There should be some tension on them when you push down on them with your hand (don't push too hard). Right now they're slipping that's why your lights are flashing. This will also keep your alternator from charging your battery correctly.

 

hmm.. havent had any battery issues. ill tighten the belt a bit more and report back
why would it only do it at idle rpm?

 

buy a belt tensioner gauge. had a shop replace my belts and they kept squealing. its supposed to be at 160lbs per inch and they had only tightened to 60lbs/in. it sounds like your belts are loose. are you sure you have the right tension on them?

 

i should invest in a gauge if im going to keep this car until it dies.
so i finally had some time to mess with it and i just tightened up the idler pulley for the alt belt and it seems like its resolved for now. i just did a start up and it didnt do what it was doing before so i hope it doesnt do it when im driving later on. thanks for all your help

 

ok so it got super cold here and i drove today with no squeals or battery light blinking at me.
i did the usual start up and let it warm up before driving and all was good.
i get about 5-6 miles down the road and i lose throttle response, the lights start dimming and ultimately the car shuts off. Ok, maybe its the battery with the cold and what not. Swapped a new battery in and ran fine, got to my destination. 2 hours later when i go home it started and ran fine. halfway home (8-9 miles) it does the same thing. This time i was able to keep it at idle rpm and limp it home.
all the lights were very dim, blower stopped, i turned the headlights off, blinkers wouldnt work. wouldnt rev up in gear but in neutral it would rev a lil bit and go back to idle.
Could it be the alternator or some kind of short somewhere? Any help is greatly appreciated, this is my DD and i need it running again..

 

first check your belt tension

next check your charging levels ... aka.. buy a cheap voltage tester and test how much voltage the car is operating at while engine on.

If above 13.5 = good 14.7 MAX
if below 13.5 = bad alternator/voltage regulator (built into alternator)

>>> replace alternator

if belt is tight and trouble persists

check coolant levels... perhaps you are losing coolant and thus spraying into the belts causing the sqeaks.

 

thanks eric. I tightened the belt saturday before the weather got too bad and it fixed the squeal and the lights flickering on and off.
I am going to have the battery charged so i can make it to the autozone by my house, its like two blocks away, and have the alternator checked.
I highly doubt it but could the cold be affecting it in some way?

 

You can check your alternator using a simple walmart or radioshack voltage meter.

Walmart even sells stuff you can stick into your cigarette lighter port and it'll digitally read out the power levels.

They sell it around the battery section.

Thanks for keeping us aware and hope everything turns out for the very best.

 

sounds light a bad alt or regulator. Regulator could have gone bad when you were having problems with your belt. Did you use a new or reman alternator? Or a used one from a salvage yard?