BY MIKE HAGERTY / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 12, 2020 / NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION / What’s that sound? Your vehicle, which usually purrs like a kitten,&hellip;{"id":11676,"date":"2020-02-17T13:42:54","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T21:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/?p=11676"},"modified":"2020-02-17T13:44:11","modified_gmt":"2020-02-17T21:44:11","slug":"what-causes-a-squeaky-belt-on-a-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/17\/what-causes-a-squeaky-belt-on-a-car\/","title":{"rendered":"What Causes a Squeaky Belt on a Car?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\">BY MIKE HAGERTY \/ ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 12, 2020 \/<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION<\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\/<\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What\u2019s that sound? Your vehicle, which usually purrs like a kitten, has started squeaking like a mouse. If it happens when your car is running, but not moving, it\u2019s most likely an issue with a belt.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What Causes a Squeaky Belt on a Car?<\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In newer vehicles, apart from<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/knowhow.napaonline.com\/what-happens-when-your-timing-belt-breaks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>the timing belt or timing chain<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">, there\u2019s now only one belt that powers your car\u2019s equipment, including the alternator, air conditioning, fan, water pump and power-steering pump. Some people call it a drive belt, others an accessory belt, an<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/p\/PBH17610?cid=social_blog_012020_air_conditioning_belt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">air-conditioning belt<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">or a serpentine belt because of the way it winds around the wheels that drive all those components.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A squeaky belt could be caused by a few possibilities. It could be the tension of the belt itself, a slightly stretched belt, bad bearings in one of the pulleys or a problem in one of the accessories driven by the belt, such as the alternator, the air conditioner, the water pump or the power-steering pump.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Take a Look and Listen<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The alternator and the belt are usually in plain view when you\u2019re looking at the engine, which helps you find, identify and fix the squeaky belt on a car.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">With the engine off, open the hood and find the belt. Look for any signs of wear on the belt itself \u2014 cracks or parts that are a different shade of black or a different finish (matte vs. shiny).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If it seems normal, leave the hood open, start the engine and look and listen for the squeaks as the car runs. Do they happen when a certain point of the belt reaches a particular point on its path? Watch for any odd movement or vibration of the belt or any of the pulleys.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Next Steps<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If nothing is immediately visible, your next move depends on your skill set. If you\u2019re a DIYer and perform other maintenance and repair work on your vehicle, this will probably be something you can handle. But if you\u2019re not, visit a mechanic for a professional diagnosis, repair or replacement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A final bit of good news \u2014 if you\u2019re responding to this squeaky belt early, you\u2019re saving yourself from potential future repairs and malfunctioning parts down the road. When your car talks (or squeaks), be sure to listen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Check out all the<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/search\/belts-hoses\/belts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>belts<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0available on<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>NAPA Online<\/strong><\/a> <span style=\"color: #000000;\">or trust one of their 17,000<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.napaautocare.com\/store-finder.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>NAPA AutoCare locations<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">for routine maintenance and repairs. For more information on engine belts, chat with a knowledgeable expert at your<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/store-locator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">local NAPA AUTO PARTS store<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Photo courtesy of Mike Hagerty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>This article has been reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder, National Automotive Parts Association. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Click here for more\u00a0<\/em><\/span><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/category\/classic-tips\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">automotive tips and stories<\/a><\/em><\/strong><em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">, or here for more information on\u00a0<\/span><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/event-info\/car-show-hours-dates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the next Pomona Swap Meet &amp; Classic Car Show<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":11678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[805],"tags":[5768,5843,7442,682,3056,7446,7443,1274,7449,6374,6376,6590,3491,3037,3026,7445,7448,5844,7450,7444,3596,3597,3081,7447],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Car-Engine-Belts-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9nnZN-32k","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11676"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11676"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11681,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11676\/revisions\/11681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}