Squeaky Drive belt...

[springer]

Hi Guys,

Maybe you have come across this before, I will explain....

Bought my Paj a while ago, had a squeaky drive belt, no big deal, took it to a fairly large 4x4 place near me and it was sorted by a mechanic that worked for Mitsu for 10 years. Anyway he said its common for Pajeros to have noise in the drive belts when cold and to fix it they bring the alternator forward slighty to stop the noise and belt rubbing somewhere, said this is a very common "special" Mitsu adjustment..

Just had a rebuild done recently and when I got the motor back had the exact same squeak/squeal, have taken it back 4 times and they can't seem to fix it (the ex mitsu guy doesn't work there anymore) and they don't believe me about the alternator???? All drive belts are new and tensioned correctly, lubed with that special shite etc etc. idler pulleys etc all good.

Is REALLY loud when its cold and then dissappears till next morning....

Any ideas

p.s. sorry for the long post on something so boring

[Noisey]

Sure it's the belts ??

Any chance it could be your starter motor sticking. A mate had one that screamed when first started and would let go after a minute or two.

OR

Bearing behind the Fan bracket assembly - mines gone at the moment but only makes noise when it feels like it.

If all else fails try a little soap on the belts.

[Neilj]

Hi Springer, I know how annoying that noise is , does it sounds like a bearing that hasn,t been oiled in 300 years????? Or, like someone dragging their fingernails down a blackboard (and just as annoying)??

I lubed the belts, (tried soap) replaced idler pulley bearing, replaced all the belts at the same time, NOTHING would get rid of this noise that was driving me .
We eventually dicsovered that the pulleys were "out of allignment"!

HINT: look for a wobble/vibration in the belt, thru revs (try not to lose a finger). Or, that "belt grip" goo, makes the noise worse.
Got a mechanic to move the alternator forward.
Squeal free, for 6 months


Skinny

P.S. I think a lot of Paj owners mistake this as an idler/bearing/something else problem.

[springer]

Hi NeilJ,

Thats exactly what it was, after taking it back 4 times they did the idlers, blamed the power steering etc....didn't cost me anyhting but kept taking it back as a matter of principal, they put someting out of alignment they should fix it...they didn't believe the aternator advice...

anyway kept getting worse bit the bullet when I got home tues night and undid the bolts on the alt. and tapped it forward about 2 mm and everything is dead quiet now. Looking at it you could see the alt. was just slightly off centre.

I wont be returning to that mechanic ever again

Incedently you hear a few Paj's getting around with this same noise, but they may not realise what the fix is.

[Neilj]

Cheers

[grumpy221]

excellent guys thanks for the tip the Jabber is heaps quiter now I moved the alt.......damm this communication is a good thing