Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

I'm having squeaky belt issues, again. They're not nearly as bad as they were last winter (before I got new belts), but they seem to be related to (1) having a cold(er) engine, (2) being in low gear, and (3) having the AC running. When I got my belts replaced in January, they did say that it was very hard to get the new belts on because they were so tight. Is it possible that one of the belts is . . . not quite in the right position, or something? Is this worth looking into, generally?

Also, I should add that these aren't new issues—I've had the same problems since I got the new belts in January. But I thought that perhaps the problem would go away when the weather got warmer, but it's July, now and they're still squeaking, on occasion.

I had squeaking when the car was just starting up and sometimes when I turned on the AC. I tightened the groove arm holding my alternator on and it stopped.

Depending on how bad the squeal is, it can mean the belt will wear out more rapidly than it should. If it's occasional, maybe it's not a big deal to ignore, but I'm not sure.

I can say this: squealing happens when the belt slips against the pulleys. This usually is because the belt is either (a) too worn, or (b) too loose. (A too-tight belt can cause problems too, but squealing isn't one of them, as far as I know.) I'd be surprised if the belt connecting your AC to the crankshaft were already worn out, so my guess would be (as Digit suggested) that the tension isn't right. Some vehicles have automatic tensioners that are supposed to maintain the proper tension, and if yours is one of them, you might need a new tensioner. If the tension needs to be set manually, then possibly it needs to be increased a bit. I think squealing can also happen if one of the pulleys is too stiff, putting an unusual load on the belt, but I'm not sure.

I'd suggest getting a friend who knows about cars (or a shop you really trust, if you have one) to listen to the squeal and see what they think. It might not be a big deal, or they may suggest getting it looked at. I'd be wary of taking it to a shop unless you already have one you like, though, since it seems like shops can always find something wrong with a car!

(The above comes solely from limited experiences with my family's cars and with mine—I'm not a mechanic.)

Laser Jock wrote:I'd suggest getting a friend who knows about cars (or a shop you really trust, if you have one) to listen to the squeal and see what they think. It might not be a big deal, or they may suggest getting it looked at. I'd be wary of taking it to a shop unless you already have one you like, though, since it seems like shops can always find something wrong with a car!

I'm pretty happy with the mechanic I have. (Last time I went to see them, it took a lot longer to fix my car than it should have, but they only charged me for the amount of labor they originally quoted me.) On the other hand, they're the ones who replaced my belts and thus (possibly) caused the (new) squeal. So I don't know if I should go back to them.

I wonder if there's anyone in the ward who's good with cars . . .

Did they replace ALL the belts Katya? It is entirely likely that it is a different belt that is squealing now. As pointed out, it could just be a belt with a worn or misshapen section, which may or may not hurt the life of the belt. If it happens when the AC is running, that could be a fan belt or it could be a compressor belt. It may cost twenty bucks or so, but having someone look at the belt will be the best way to determine if it needs replacing. Simply listening to it will likely prove inconclusive (except, perhaps, isolating the specific belt causing the issue.)

My opinion is that cars require too much maintenance and money. (Guess whose car is BACK in the shop? [sigh])

I ride the bus 40 miles to and from work for 75¢ each way and enjoy either sleeping, reading, or just looking out the window instead of driving as much nowadays.

Yeah, the idea of "I'm American so I have to drive EVERYWHERE!" is kind of outdated. The government has really done wonders to improve public transportation in the past twenty years or so, and can in certain cases be a great alternative.

I used UTA when I worked up in SLC and it was great. Sure, I had to wake up earlier, but I got to sleep on the bus. (I can't read or do anything productive. I get car sick too easily. No desire to throw up while on a bus. Last time I did that I just quickly used the window and realized afterwards that there was a motorcyclist outside. I was too mortified to look again to see if I got him. Somewhere in China there's a motorcyclist with a really great/awful story. No desire to repeat that, thanks.)

That's not so helpful now when the bus stop is just about as far as most of the places I go (or too expensive to justify the extra block) and impossible to carry everything with me. Groceries, CostCo junk, etc. Plus a toddler. I can walk to the grocery store easily, but I just don't have the capacity to carry most of my groceries home with me. Also, UTA doesn't have a good route from my place to my in-laws. So really, it's great for a lot of things, but not for my current situation. So I still need my car. Which again has oil in the radiator. And no A/C. So it's once again in the shop.

Google invested over $1 million in Shweeb but there seem to be tons of problems with that idea. It's serial so passing people would be complicated*, there doesn't seem to be much room for laying down what you're bringing with you, I could see them getting dirty and stinky without diligent nightly cleaning, and much more. It seems best suited to a small subsection of downtown Portland, OR for cool people to be seen being all green.

*They say if you're stuck behind a slow person, you'll be able to pedal harder and push them along. I see problems with that (lazy people depending on it, offended people getting angry at you for pushing them/trying to pedal backwards or something, etc...)

Yep, system still needs a lot of work, and there's still a lot of cases where it just will never beat your own vehicle. However, I do think that there's many cases where it could be used to great effect, but the American psyche just won't consider it.

Nah. I think they'll consider it eventually. A lot of people use public transport and the simple fact that it's growing shows that people are doing more than considering it. It's just going to take awhile for people to get used to the idea. But as gas prices go up and public transport becomes more accessible, more people will switch.

Marduk wrote:The government has really done wonders to improve public transportation in the past twenty years or so, and can in certain cases be a great alternative.

Not in Provo!

If I took public transportation, my 10-15 minute commute would turn into 2-3 hours. So, no bus for me! (Actually, I'd ride my bike to work, if my health were better.)

Well, I bet most of us are doing better than Stephen Jordan, who commutes 340 miles every day from his home on 15 acres in Augusta, ME to Boston. From the sourced article:

Jordan spends nine hours a day on the road and the rails, leaving his house at 4:15 a.m. to drive 62 miles to Portland and ride Amtrak's Downeaster train to North Station. After an eight-hour workday and a long trip home, Jordan opens his door to greet his wife at 10:15 p.m.

No thanks!

This is way off topic now, but since I already started talking about it here, I shall continue. There is a possibility (not confirmed yet, and if it is, I'll take it somewhere else for a second opinion) that I will need to replace the engine in my car. Which is $4-5k. The amount we paid for the car. At which point it seems more feasible to just buy a new car. EXCEPT that we're currently in process of buying a new house and having trouble selling our condo, which means we have no cash to spare. Like, I was freaking out about having to take it back to the shop for this, money-wise. I am not a happy person at this moment. Rather, I just want to lay down and weep. Bitterly. [sigh]

Aw Dragon Lady, I feel bad! I shall attempt to make things better the only way I know how: with food and Dominion. How about some four cheese lasagna?

That stinks, DL. I hope things work out.

What kind of car is it, DL? That is awful.