What fan belt brand you guys prefer?

[vectorit]

Silly question here, but I can't seem to get my fan belt to stop squealing on acceleration. It's as tight as one could get it, and probably tighter than it should be. I have even sprayed belt grip on the pulley, and I still get that screech noise when I rev past 3k from a stop.

I am using a Gates model from the local Auto Zone, and it has very little mileage on it.

I'm thinking I need to find a brand that is narrower, so that it sits deeper into the pulley grooves so it can get more of a contact surface?

Any suggestions?

[70clone]

i like gatorback to me there is nothin better than the goodyear gatorback available at autozone expensive though

[Shane]

if I were having that sort of squealing issues with a new belt then I would check my pulley alignment ... sounds like something other than just slippage

[vectorit]

Hey Shane, yea I hear that. But in my case the pulley's are all lined up perfectly, and none of them are dented or warped.

The screech is just a short one, it's not like a continual squeal that lasts for a long time. It's just long enough to annoy.

[C-10 simplex]

i like gates.

How old are the pulleys?

[vectorit]

How old? 40 years old, give or take?

[C-10 simplex]

It doesn't sound like too big of a problem, but you could try rubbing steel wool on the inside of the pulley--the grove where the belt runs thru. The problem with this is that i'm thinking this will eat up the belt quicker. The mechanics at the local chevy dealer told me about this one.

The other thing i've found out is rubbing soap on the pulleys before driving really does a good job at getting rid of the noise. But this isn't really solving the problem is it? Plus, you got to do it everytime you drive.

I'm thinking maybe getting some new pulleys might do the trick----i don't think it's the belt.

[67ss&99ss]

dayco top cog gold label

[roger0080]

I have the exact same problem.

The first time it was clearly alignment problems. I replaced the engine with a plain jane 350 crate motor and those heads are about 1/4" short then the stock.

So then I shimmed the alternator so the pulleys are aligned, visually anyways. Still squealed over 55 MPH.

Put new NAPA XL belts on that I always used in the past.
Good for 5K miles, then just this fall I had it out over 55 MPH and there is that squeal.

Gonna try a different alternator to see if the pulley makes a difference (I have all original alternators that are just rebuilt so the pulley's are probably all original yet) as they are probably pretty polished over the years.

I never had the problem on the old engine though. Maybe still alignment problems?

[unclewatts]

I had a Gates with the notches on the bottom and after awhile it squealed like crazy. I tried tightening it and I used belt dressing. No help. I finally got fed up and went down to NAPA and bought a Gates non-notched belt and haven't had any squealing since. Just my .02

[2tons of fun]

what is the water pump and motor setup?

my 454 lwp would do it if i got on the throttle but only then, they wouldnt peep all the way up to 5500. the lwp uses belts that are 43-46" long, one for the alt and one for the p/s. both are pretty even, no super long spans.

my 396 swp had the most retarded setup i have ever had on a truck both belts were 56"+ long and you could not get them to stop squealing and jumping. you could not !!! get them tight enough.

[PanelDeland]

Here's some good info on belts and sheaves.This is a company that specializes in rubbber drives for industrial apps so they do know their stuff.Many people think tightening a belt will make it slip less but if the belt is good and the right size(cross-section) it should need only enough tansion to keep it snug.If you over tighten a belt,you stress the bearings and shaftes that dive and are driven by it.
Try this link for good info on belts

http://www.bandousa.com/html/pdfs_te...aint_25168.pdf

[jeffspower]

Originally Posted by 67ss&99ss

dayco top cog gold label

Agreed. Seems to be the only V belt worth a darn anymore. If they haven't changed how they make them, they are smooth on the drive side, and cogged on the top side like the name implies. I have them on my '72. They have been on there for about 14 years now.

My '68 is prone to "chirp on rev" like yours. I thought swapping to a cast '69 mounting bracket would help as it seems more solid, but it didn't really make any difference. Too tight seems to be the only answer, even with a smooth belt. I know a solid or flex fan makes it even worse, a clutch fan works the best. It allows the fan pulley to "spool up" without having to bring the weight and drag of the fan up to speed instantly.

Alot of C40 & bigger trucks used a huge diameter heavy solid fan with 2 wide belts. Some old passenger cars had 2 belts too. I wish they would have set our trucks up with 2 belts.

[americanmusc1e]

Originally Posted by vectorit

Silly question here, but I can't seem to get my fan belt to stop squealing on acceleration. It's as tight as one could get it, and probably tighter than it should be. I have even sprayed belt grip on the pulley, and I still get that screech noise when I rev past 3k from a stop.

I am using a Gates model from the local Auto Zone, and it has very little mileage on it.

I'm thinking I need to find a brand that is narrower, so that it sits deeper into the pulley grooves so it can get more of a contact surface?

Any suggestions?

NAPA belt.

[racerface]

Check the pullys, feel down the inside of the pully if it is grooved they need to be replaced. the contact area is to small and the belt will chirp nomatter what brand of belt is used.

[evilways]

I currently have the same problem with my new belt, I went to AutoZone, matched the length and slapped it on only to find a nice screech when I give her a rev. Come to find out my old belt was not as wide as the new one and the old one fit deeper in the pulley, so I guess they make different widths on belts, I am on a search to find the narrower one, I was thinking farm supply store might have what I need?

[72 cheyenne pdx]

Here's some good info on belts and sheaves.This is a company that specializes in rubbber drives for industrial apps so they do know their stuff.Many people think tightening a belt will make it slip less but if the belt is good and the right size(cross-section) it should need only enough tansion to keep it snug.If you over tighten a belt,you stress the bearings and shaftes that dive and are driven by it.
Try this link for good info on belts

Agreed - A belt too tight will do more harm than good. You want the belt (at least from what I've been told) to be able to move in the center about 3/4" when installed. If the belt can't do that then it is too tight and more than an 1 1/4" the belt may be too loose.

Good Luck

[MacAttack]

Going through the same thing on my 65' Chevelle right now.

Adjusted the pressure and used belt dressing: No change.

Above 55 mph the power steering belt screams like a coyote in heat.

After spraying - it will stay quiet for one leg of going to work, but not coming home. Engine compartment is getting nasty from over-spray. Frustrating.

Mac.

[PanelDeland]

The width of the top of the belt is an important aspect of how it functions.The drive surface is actually the \\//.If the belt bottoms in the pulley there will not be enough pressure on the sides to create enough fricton drag to keep the belt from slipping.The \ is actually the part that "pulls".
There are several different sizes of belts in width so it's easy to get one that's too narrow and have this problem.It's also a problem if the belt is too wide since the belt usually rides up out of the groove,it still has less surface to grip.The \/ section "may" have different angles also.I'm not sure on that.

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by PanelDeland

The width of the top of the belt is an important aspect of how it functions.

Makes perfect sense. Great explanation.

[ERASER5]

Lots of info here, but no one has asked about your setup? Do you have a fan clutch? or a straight driven flex fan?

My belt squeals near 3500 and up. I run no clutch and a Flex-a-lite plastic flex fan. My water pump/fan just stalls at 3500 and causes the squeal. I know what is going on, so I live with it until I install the electric fan.

[Lugnut64052]

Maybe the pulleys are getting worn out/dished out. If the pulley and belt are both new, the top of the belt will sit right at the edge of the pulley, or even appear to be slightly higher. Also, a new belt may appear to be resting in the right place but the sides aren't making good contact with the pulley if it's worn out and dished.

It's not common, but I've seen this before-- a battery that never quits sucking power. The alternator is loaded all the time, dragging the belt, and causes an intermittent squeak.

[vectorit]

Originally Posted by Lugnut64052

It's not common, but I've seen this before-- a battery that never quits sucking power. The alternator is loaded all the time, dragging the belt, and causes an intermittent squeak.

Can this be explained a little more? My battery does drain when the truck is off, so I have to disconnect it while it is parked.

To answer the questions about my set up.

The engine, and pulley design is all 1968 OE.
The fan is the original 4 blade, and the water pump is short.

Drive train is all original 327, SM465, T-221, H052, D44.

[Lugnut64052]

This is gonna get wordy, but I'll try to be brief--

I've seen batteries that will start the vehicle okay, but then never seem to get charged up. Or just never will quit taking a charge, to word it differently.

If you measure alternator output on a normal system, you'll see heavy charging going on for the first few minutes after start-up, as the alternator quickly replaces what you sucked off the battery during start-up (like 30 to 50 amps if you cranked on it a little). After that, measured alternator output will quickly fall to a maintenance level plus whatever is turned on with the vehicle running. With everything turned off and the engine running (after charge-up) you should only see four or five amps of charging happening.

I ran a fleet of one-ton vans for several years for a school district. The very last year of V-belt drives we got a few new ones and added them to the fleet. They immediately began showing back up at the shop with burned belts (really charred and smoked), thrown belts, and the drivers kept complaining the belts were squalling all the time. The vans all had air, power steering, etc and they'd regularly show back up with all three or four belts completely missing. Meanwhile, none of them exhibited any hard starting or no-start problems. They all started fine.

We chased around on the problem for quite a while, carefully looking at pulley alignment, wrong pulleys, wrong diameter pulleys, etc, etc. We tried different belt brands and different tensions with no luck. Finally somebody measured the alternator output and we discovered that they were all still shoving 50 or 60 amps of power a half-hour after start-up. The alternators were running at near full load all the time which was causing all our belt problems. It would toss the alternator belt which would then snag and toss the rest of the group. We replaced all the batteries in the new vans and our belt problems immediately disappeared.