Noisy belts at start-up!

[92wH22]

Every time I start up my H22, especially in the morning, the belts sqeak like hell! It only does it for a bit, and then goes away. Do they just need tightening, lubricating, replacing?

Help, cause it's a bit embarrasing...

[PRIMOCB7]

try re-tightening the belts again. i had the same problem a couple months ago when i re-installed my a/c lines and belt; didn't tighten it enough and kept squeaking everytime i started the car. if it continues, check the condition of the belt just to make sure its not worn out already.

[92wH22]

Thanks bro. Where do you adjust the belts from? I've noticed it'll also do fo a second when I turn my AC on as well.

And I gotta tell you that your engine compartment looks sweet! I need to make mine look like that...

[PRIMOCB7]

Thanks bro. Where do you adjust the belts from? I've noticed it'll also do fo a second when I turn my AC on as well.

And I gotta tell you that your engine compartment looks sweet! I need to make mine look like that...

there is a large bolt that holds the alternator onto the bracket. you'll have to loosen that up. on the underside of the alternator, there is an adjuster bolt that you can use to set the tension. if you've got someone to help, even better. they can wegde a large screwdriver or small pipe between the alternator and bracket and push the alternator upwards while you tighten the bolts down.

[h22sparkle]

Basically bro what primo is trying to say is You have to tighten both nuts and when your doing that you have to pull and hold the altenator as tight as you can. That way you can hold the belt to be as firm while your tightening it up . Then after that you should be good.

[92wH22]

Well, this weekend I wanted to finally resolve this problem and did notice the screws you guys described on this. But both my friend and I wanted to make sure that the alternator belt was the one making all the noise. We both gave it a good listen, and it seems to be coming off the belt on the AC compressor. After carefully inspecting it, we could not figure out how the hell to adjust this. Can you guys help me out here? It's pretty damn loud when I start it up and can be a bit embarassing...

And yes, I know I need to go buy a Chilton!

[SoapyToast]

Has this been happening ever since the swap or just recently? If since the swap, it might be too big of a belt. If just recently try a new belt. The rubber on those things do wear out ya know. Tightening it will just slow down the inevitable.

[sd93accordEX]

interesting. you all must have a different setup than I. I just loosen the 2 bolts (the big 14mm on top of the alt and the 12mm nut for the adjuster) and then tighten the adjuster screw to the specified belt tension, then retighten the first 2 bolts and i'm good to go. i guess i have lots more to learn.

[92wH22]

I bought the car with the swap already, so I wouldn't know if it's been doing it since the swap. Is there any way to adjust the belt I described?

[92wH22]

So any tips on tightening the AC belt up? And if it needs replacing, is it a bitch?

[jumpman83]

look under the the alternator and you'll see a plate with 2 screws in it. 1 goes into the mount, the one on the left (driver's prospective) is the one that moves the alternator to tensen the belt. Follow that one down, where it meets another screw, there's a bolt on the end. Loosen that bolt. There's also one on the top rear of the alternator, loosen that one too, then tighten that screw until the belt doesn't move much. Should move 1/4" at most at the middle of the longest legnth between any two pulleys. Also, give your pulleys a look over, and see if it couldn't be that it's covered in something, like power steering fluid, oil, coolant, something like that. Mine was covered in power steering fluid and it would make it so it would squeek either for about a minute or once I tapped the gas to bring it up around 1,800 RPM, which I didn't like to do because I'm paranoid about stressing a cold engine.