Ford Ranger Belt Squeal

Another B Puller · Apr 19, 2012

I have a 1998 Ford Ranger with a 3.0L motor and the belt squeals all the time. We replaced the belt and bearing in the idler and tensioner. What could cause this problem?

billyar · Apr 19, 2012

Ac bearing turns all the time.

Paul from MI · Apr 19, 2012

Might be an altrnator getting ready to go, that was the problem on my '91 F150.

tn terry t · Apr 19, 2012

take a three ft sec tion of stiff rubber hose hold one end to your ear and work the other end over the front of the engine it WILL tell where the noise is coming from. Also i just replaced a water pump on a aerostar that the bearing was loose enough to let the fins rub the housing made a awful squeal

Oldmax · Apr 19, 2012

I had a Nisson that did that was alt bearings. $25 solved problem.

RodinNS · Apr 19, 2012

Have you tried changing the belt ~since~ you changed the tensioner? Or did you change them together?
If not I think I'd change the belt again...
Mine would go for a time but eventually take to howling again. Might also try scraping the dirt from the grooves in all of the pulleys....

Rod

BCnT · Apr 19, 2012

what brand belt? they're not all the same...Kelly belts are notorious about squealing.

504 · Apr 19, 2012

Spray, dip, rub anything on the belt,soap WD-40 water. That will tell you if it is a belt or if the noise is the same then start looking for a bearing.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 19, 2012

or talcum powder, but isolate it first before spending $$$$.

Welding man · Apr 20, 2012

Take the belt off and take a wire brush and clean the built up rubber out of the grooves on all the pulleys,while there check the tensioner. Pretty common on some of the 150's too.

RLA · Apr 20, 2012

There truely are different belts, Ford changed
the composistion of belts for Rangers.. If the
belt made noise as soon as you started the
engine, then I"d say you have a alignment
problem. If it makes noise after a few hundred
miles it"s a composition problem, providing
you"ve check all bearing on the FEAD belt.
It"s the road dirt that makes the noise gets
inbedded in the belt, dressing will only help
for awhile. Ask for a New & Improved belt.

Hobo,NC · Apr 20, 2012

(quoted from post at 05:37:49 04/20/12) I have a 1998 Ford Ranger with a 3.0L motor and the belt squeals all the time. We replaced the belt and bearing in the idler and tensioner. What could cause this problem?

Most all belt auto belt tensioner's have a indicator that indicates if the belt is tensioned correct is it... That's were I would start... If the indicator is outside of the idicator are at the far end of both sides the tensioner losses its mechanical advantage....

slim · Apr 20, 2012

Did you replace the tensioner or just the bearing in the tensioner? I had the same type problem in an Explorer 4.0 SOHC and it was the tensioner. It seemed fine on visual inspection but actually was not tightening the belt enough. It had become stiff and would not apply enough pressure on the belt. After replacing the tensioner the squeel went away. Also, I have seen some tensioners that can be overtightened. If you tighten them too much it puts them in a bind where they don't push on the belt enough.

slim

Anonymous-0 · Apr 20, 2012

I have noticed that different belt manufacturers will offer belts of various lengths for the same application. They may only be 1/2 inch different than the Motorcraft original but that 1/2 inch affects the automatic tensioner pressure.

Also, you may have an alternator, water pump, or power steering pump or some other driven accesory that is going bad and causing increased torque on it's drive pulley.

Janicholson · Apr 20, 2012

Cleaning the grooves in the pulleys to bare metal is correct. the finish gets polished in use, then sets up a squeel that is near continuous. Jim

Another B Puller · Apr 21, 2012

I changed the tensioner last night and the squeal is gone. The belt is only a week old and still looked good. After 360,000 miles things just wear out. But it dont use oil and looks realy good!

Ford Ranger Belt Squeal

Another B Puller

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billyar

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Paul from MI

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tn terry t

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Oldmax

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RodinNS

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BCnT

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504

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Anonymous-0

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Welding man

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RLA

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slim

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