Still got stupid belt water pump chirp sound

[August76]

Replaced harmonic balancer that someone hammered on. Face was uneven causing the lower pulley to wobble and it has been like this for over two years that I've owned the truck. replaced it with a new one and the Pulley no longer wobbles at all but yet I still got that stupid belt chirping noise. The
minute I spray the inside of the belt with water the noise goes away, it sounds just like a bad water pump but I replace the water pump 2 years ago.

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[SAATR]

How old is the belt? How do the grooves look on each of the pulleys? The wear pattern (shiny area on the ribs) should not extend to the bottom of the grooves. If it does, the belt is riding on the tips of each of the ribs in the belt and pulley and might be the source of your squeak. Also may want to clean the pulleys out with a wire brush to make sure there isn't any buildup in the grooves.

 

[98 Nitro]

My belt looked fine but I replaced it with a Gatorback and no more noise.

 

[Schurkey]

LOOK at the belt tensioner. It's probably marked for the service limits of the belt. If the belt is new, the tensioner will indicate towards the "tight" end of the marking. When the belt wears out, the tensioner indicates towards the "loose" end of the marking.

If the tensioner shows the belt is worn...replace the belt.

While the belt is off, you could check the various accessories for drag and roughness, as well as pulley condition.

 

[mattillac]

Your tensioner seems to be sitting on the stop/limit, circled in red.

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From what it looks like in that pic, your belt tentioner has reached its maximum range, and can no longer apply tension to that belt. Seems as though that belt is way too long for your situation.

Here is a video where a tensioner can be seen pretty clearly for comparison.

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Best of luck

 

[454cid]

When I was belt shopping for my truck, I found that there are several belts listed that are all close in length, and length isn't listed consistently from manufacturer to manufacturer. I bought a belt for a 140amp alternator, as the part number for my replacement is supposed to be a 140. The truck originally came with a 120. The 140 belt was too long. I ended up selling it on ebay to a guy with a Ford, I think... in Australia!

The longer belt "fit", but allowed the tensioner to extend so far as to be ineffective, just like what's mentioned above. I removed it without even starting the truck.

 

[Supercharged111]

When I was belt shopping for my truck, I found that there are several belts listed that are all close in length, and length isn't listed consistently from manufacturer to manufacturer. I bought a belt for a 140amp alternator, as the part number for my replacement is supposed to be a 140. The truck originally came with a 120. The 140 belt was too long. I ended up selling it on ebay to a guy with a Ford, I think... in Australia!

The longer belt "fit", but allowed the tensioner to extend so far as to be ineffective, just like what's mentioned above. I removed it without even starting the truck.

^^^^ This. I recently went hunting for a belt for my Camaro which has a significant underdrive crank pulley. The installation instructions tell you to reuse the factory belt! I think I was after a 58.5" long belt and the parts store computer was ******** out part numbers 1 inch longer and shorter.

 

[Dan_Frisbie]

When I recently changed the belt on my 1998, the new one was about 1/16" wider than the old one. The water pump pulley had worn down after so many miles and with a wider belt, the squeaking was driving me crazy. I tried to sand down the old pulley and even out the surface size with no luck.
Had to replace the water pump pulley.

 

[xx94Z71xx]

mine got squeeky for 2 reasons. one i had a really worn plastic tensioner pulley. went to a steel one and new belt and that took care of the chirp.

with my old motor had a squeak i could not find it was driving me nuts. new belt cleaning pulleys no help. turned out the bearing spun inside a 9 month old water pump. had me stumped for weeks

edit: could spin it by hand and felt nice. had to get it to rpm. It was a advance auto pump

 

[someotherguy]

Multiple possible causes and I've experienced pretty much all of them described in the replies across several different vehicles. INCLUDING...a horrible squealing brand new water pump.. Chinese from NAPA, warranty replacement for a failed one, couldn't win so I got a different brand new pump from Carquest. It's foreign too but obviously a different casting so at least it didn't come from the same manufacturer or batch.

Replacing parts gets expensive so start by cleaning all the pulleys and replacing the belt. A belt contaminated with even spilled coolant will squeal/chirp.

Richard