Belt Squeal

For what it's worth , we went through this last year, it documented on here but a summaried version is , after 2 or 3 belts, a new alternator ,a new water pump , the only thing left was the bottom pulley. It turned out not to be separated but the grooves filled up with old rubber compacted so it looked fine but when wet there was not enough friction so it squealed and slipped heating the belt up so it became weak and snapped .

Fast forward to today and ...another jimny has started to squeal ...14.5 v at battery even with everything on , but the lights dull a bit and the radio switches channels occassionally!
I priced up alternator from local electrical factors £130 ..
It could be the bearings in alternator .

Reading back on this string and "have you checked the alternator bearings" has been voiced but no one has said "yes and this is what I found".
If good advice is given and ignored then what's the point?

Roger

Unfortunately this happens on other forums too. They dont understand or too selfish, that all fixes help us all and any info helps. It can be infuriating.

A good idea, our 2006 Jimny DOHC sometimes squeals it’s fan belts. I did check the Alternator bearings, even though it was only a couple of years old, the bearings were fine. I also checked the Water Pump, AC Compressor, Power Steering Pump and belt tensioner, all fine and spinning freely. The belts were so tight, they were more like guitar strings, but still the belts screamed in damp weather. It was difficult to find them, but a set of Raw-Edged belts (where the tensioning fabric strings go to the belts Vee edges), and no more belt screaming. I then slightly loosened the belts, as I don’t like to stress bearings, and still no screaming.

Cheers for that info, mate. Any tips on where we might pick up those belts?

I will ask my mates where we got them from. I do remember it was on-line from a Belt / Transmission company, and not a Car Parts supplier. Armed with the belt length and width, it is straightforward to select Raw-Edge or the standard Wrapped belts. Apparently the Raw-Edge belts can transmit up to 30% more power than Wrapped, before they slip. It is this reason Car makers use Wrapped belts, as if bearings on an Alternator or Water Pump etc fail, the standard belt skips and squeals as a warning. I got so many different Jimny belt lengths on-line, I took the belts off, and measured them. Luckily their part numbers were still visible, to confirm the length and width.