belt squeaks when wet

*Cumalot* · 10-23-2008, 12:03 PM

my drive belts squeak whenever it rains, but on dry days, they're fine. what does this mean? is it time to change them? why they don't squeak when it's dry though? if they need replacing wouldn't they squeak regardless wet or dry?

*ptatohed* · 10-23-2008, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cumalot

my drive belts squeak whenever it rains, but on dry days, they're fine. what does this mean? is it time to change them? why they don't squeak when it's dry though? if they need replacing wouldn't they squeak regardless wet or dry?

Mr. Cumalot. It's been a while, how are you? It’s good to see you still drop by now and then.

Is the undercarriage splash guard which protects the belts from getting wet missing from your car (I know I am famous for removing those and forgetting to put them back). How do your belts (PS and serpentine) look? Dry and cracked or frayed - or fine? How's your tension on the serpentine belt?

*Cumalot* · 10-23-2008, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ptatohed

Mr. Cumalot. It's been a while, how are you? It’s good to see you still drop by now and then.

Is the undercarriage splash guard which protects the belts from getting wet missing from your car (I know I am famous for removing those and forgetting to put them back). How do your belts (PS and serpentine) look? Dry and cracked or frayed - or fine? How's your tension on the serpentine belt?

Wow, yes it's been awhile. I'm good but I'm done with modding though. My car is stock now. I finally kicked the on and off mod bug for about 3 yrs now. How's your car?

I have the undercarriage splash guard there. I haven't check out how the belts look and holding up yet. Last I checked about a few months ago, they looked fine. Tension on the belts are fine as well.

Madmax66 · 10-23-2008, 02:40 PM

Clearly sounds like moisture is getting in there somehow. I recently noticed the grease monkeys I let chg the oil....haven't bothered re-installing the splash guard....and hence...a chunk of it got caught and ripped off. I was driving in a bad storm a few wks ago, and the belt was squeaking quite a bit. I just repaired the splash guard...patched it up nicely w/ some pvc I had lying in my garage. I have yet to drive her in the rain but am confident all will be good. I'd take a closer look at yours...maybe even pop the wheel off ...to ensure it's not unsecured on one side, etc.

Belts should only squeal if they're too tight, too lose, or wet!
Good luck!

njmaxseltd · 10-23-2008, 03:39 PM

Changeum....

*ptatohed* · 10-23-2008, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cumalot

Wow, yes it's been awhile. I'm good but I'm done with modding though. My car is stock now. I finally kicked the on and off mod bug for about 3 yrs now. How's your car?

I have the undercarriage splash guard there. I haven't check out how the belts look and holding up yet. Last I checked about a few months ago, they looked fine. Tension on the belts are fine as well.

Done modding, huh? That's no fun. Did you say you got a 240?

My car's doing well. Of course it's never done but I'm pretty content. I forget if I told you I bought a '99 to replace my '96. This should tell the whole story:
http://forums.maxima.org/6663569-post55.html

Double check all splash guards, belts and belt tension (twist it in a corkscrew fashion and make sure it doesn't go past 90^). If those are cool, then check some of the pulleys themselves that the belt(s) go around. Try some WD-40 on those pulleys (try not to get WD on the belt itself). My SHO needs some WD every now and then. Good luck.

*Cumalot* · 10-28-2008, 12:20 PM

ok i found out it was indeed the splash guards. one of them wasn't secure and also was ripped. i need a new one. any idea where i can one besides the dealer? any websites sell it?

Madmax66 · 10-28-2008, 12:24 PM

Thought so. You can find them online easily enough...and cheap...however, w/ the S&H....ur pushing $50 for it. I couldn't justify that so, I repaired mine. Easy enough to modify some pvc type mat'l you prob have in ur garage.....or check out salvage yards (and Org) for a used piece.
Good luck and glad to hear that's all it was.

DennisMik · 10-28-2008, 12:41 PM

If its the original belt, it might be worth while to replace it. You could also try a "belt dressing" compound.

foxracing12 · 10-28-2008, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DennisMik

If its the original belt, it might be worth while to replace it. You could also try a "belt dressing" compound.

That belt dressing stuff is junk on modern belts, they do not require any dressing. If a belt is noisy there is something causing it, mine was a cracked up splash guard.

ClaJa0246 · 10-28-2008, 03:40 PM

My fan belt squeek also

foxracing12 · 10-28-2008, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClaJa0246

My fan belt squeek also

Technically our cars don't have a fan belt. We have electric fans, we have two drive belts though. Make sure they aren't loose, cracked, glazed, etc or that they are not exposed to the elements as stated above.

Sentientbydesig · 10-28-2008, 04:05 PM

Is it possible that the moisture is causing the belt to expand, and therefore squeal?

foxracing12 · 10-28-2008, 05:05 PM

I guess in theory that makes sense but I'm pretty sure the material doesn't really absorb moisture. The problem with water is when it's actually covered in water and the belt slips on it's pulley.

hitm4n666 · 10-29-2008, 10:23 AM

my 240sx used to do that to but then i put new belts and retensioned it and it was fine

*Cumalot* · 10-29-2008, 11:28 AM

i went to nissan and just to find out how much the splash guard would cost. the one on the front passenger side, the vertical one that covers the side. they wanted $65 for it. yike! i think i'm going to just repair mine.

ThreePointO · 10-29-2008, 02:55 PM

my belt squeaks to. it didnt used to but now it squeaks "quietly" all the time. but the other night it rained real hard and it was squealing like crazy. unfortunately i have no money to fix the problem... o well. pretty much every car i buy has a belt problem.

*ptatohed* · 10-29-2008, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cumalot

i went to nissan and just to find out how much the splash guard would cost. the one on the front passenger side, the vertical one that covers the side. they wanted $65 for it. yike! i think i'm going to just repair mine.

Just contact Maxima_Joe (ex. fanaticrock). He's the used part king. Great service/prices.

96blkonblkse · 10-29-2008, 11:00 PM

Belt could need replacing, they tend to do that when it gets colder out. Personally, ive seen techs put some grease on the belts/wd 40 kinda thing, i dont really agree with it, its covering up an underlying issue, but hey you know what, it works, and from what ive seen it hasnt caused any negative side effects.

Check your belt tension though, belts do stretch overtime, which causes some of the noise, if its loose, tighten it down, but your best off to replace the belt.

ThreePointO · 10-30-2008, 10:37 AM

i which the belt wasnt such a ***** to replace. the one thing i dont like about transverse engines, especially v6's is the fact that some **** is so hard to work on because its buried.

*ptatohed* · 10-30-2008, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThreePointO

i which the belt wasnt such a ***** to replace. the one thing i dont like about transverse engines, especially v6's is the fact that some **** is so hard to work on because its buried.

The serp. isn't bad at all. The PS is a lot harder though.

*Cumalot* · 10-31-2008, 01:42 PM

i went ahead and got me a brand new splash guard. again, this is the vertical looking one on the front passenger side. it covers the belt area. i know why water got it there now. i'm missing 1/4 of it! i don't even remember how or why but i cut off like 1/4 of it off. so i only got 3/4 of the back part. maybe the front 1/4 was ripped somehow or damaged beyond repair and so i just cut it off. the slash guard cost me $65 from the dealer. expensive, but oh well, need to get it sometime.

*ptatohed* · 10-31-2008, 01:49 PM

Cuma, I told you about Maxima_Joe. It would have been maybe $10-15 shipped.

I haven't had that piece on in years. And my belts never squeak. But I usually don't take my '99 out when it rains.

*Cumalot* · 10-31-2008, 01:58 PM

well thing is i ordered that part a few days ago before i read your post about maxima_joe. even though it's expensive, now that i'm not modding anymore, it's ok to spend on things like this from time to time. much, much cheaper than my modding days.