Finally installed my mechman, belt squeal

[MazzaSECv.2 10+ year member]

Mine was the same. It was as tight as it could go and it would still squeak.

 

[Boomintempo 10+ year member]

Well I ended up PMing fritos and he said his slip problem was fixed with a shorter belt. But another reason he was having slipping issues is that the driveshaft pulley broke.
Looking at the pics the "3 alt pulleys" should be alt,AC, and your crankshaft pulley. The smaller belt is more than likely power steering.

Ok now to tighten the belt I think you just loosen that locknut on the top of the alt and try to see if you can move the alt upwards to tighten the belt.

Still waiting on the new belt...It'll be interesting (and annoying) if it still squeals or just squeaks!!

What's the smaller belt size your friend got...well, actually, I'll just end up PMing fritos to get more info.

Will definitely keep this posted updated though...maybe it'll help other Accord drivers!

--edit--

Checked the members list to PM "fritos", but he must not be a member here.

MazzaSEC- No fix for your alt then huh? I'm assuming you're driving something else now...what'd you do with your alt??

 

[DumpinTreos 10+ year member]

His name is fritosaregood and he is on stevemeadedesigns.com forum

Edit: Have you tried talking to mechman yet?

 

[99grandprixGT 5,000+ posts]

hope i dont have any trouble with my mechman alt i just ordered, u try the new belt yet?

 

[Boomintempo 10+ year member]

My new belt hasn't arrived yet //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif Bought some belt dressing and that seemed to work...but it was really strange. The belt was EXTREMELY tight before I started the car, but while the car was running the belt looked like it was wobbling like crazy....

Turned the car off, and the belt was extremely loose! Confusing...said screw it after that and continued to work on other stuff that needs to get done with the car.

Anyways, hopefully the belt will be in tomorrow!!! Probably will still take a while to install the new belt since it doesn't seem too apparent how it goes in. Doesn't seem like it's going to be an easy task...just like running the amp wires were no easy task.

Fingers are crossed that the new belt comes in and WORKS....will keep this thread updated

--edit--

Haven't tried calling mechman yet. Today and tomorrow are my days off, so if anything goes really wrong then I'll call. Tried calling a few times within the last week, but kept getting the message to call during their business hours...which I was calling during their business hours, they're 6 hours behind me. Maybe their lines were busy or something. Anyway, gave up and started to posting on the forums and asking around at work if anyone knew anything.

Worst case scenario, someone at work as an impact wrench drill thingy...could take off the old pulley on the old alt and put it on the new alt. Less amperage at idle, but **** if it works...so be it!!! Could always just up the idle speed //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[tinmanchris217 10+ year member]

Glad to hear the belt dressing is helping temporarily.

You reminded me of a thought. When you are swapping in the new belt, make sure that the pulley is properly torqued onto the alternator shaft. Just a thought. If the tension is good, and the pulley flops around, that's going to squeal (and be dangerous).

 

[Boomintempo 10+ year member]

Still waiting on a new belt.

I've gotten the belt to where it doesn't "flop" around and the squeal only happened right when I started the car...it'd last about 10 seconds and then go away. The voltage would read about 14.8 volts! SWEET!

So I pressed on and installed my amps, and subs, speakers, new HU, wired everything and was EXCITED to finally turn on the car again and enjoy my car again...Forgot to hook up that **** dongle thingy, noticed that after I was noticing my lights dimming thinking WTF?!? Checked the voltage of the alt and it was only putting out 11.5-11.7..SOB!!!

Saw the dongle was disconnected, so I reconnected it like a dumbass...turned the car on...CRAZY squeal again. Voltage was up to almost 13 v with the crazy squeal and the car kept wanting to die at idle. I only let the car squeal for about 30 sec before it was just too annoying.

Man this sucks...guess I'll try for tighter and see what happens...just waiting for the belt and alt pulley to cool down. The belt dressing is making the belt stickier, just not too sure if making it tighter is going to help!...will try here shortly though.

 

[Boomintempo 10+ year member]

Alright...so, for some reason the previous tension that I had was good. However after installing everything (car audio), for some reason that previous tension WASN'T good anymore. WTF.

Tightened it as tight as I could make it (there are NO THREADS left on the tension nut thing) and started the car again. It squealed for about 5 seconds again, then went away. Car was idling higher than normal too for some reason. I think having the battery disconnected for so long that the car has to "re-learn" the idle setting (that's what I read on a forum anyway).

Kept the car at around 1k rpm and all was good. Blasted the system, lights DO dim just a little bit while revving at 2k. I guess that's understandable since with my two amps that 240 plus whatever my car normally pulls. I know the amps aren't pulling 240 amps all the time...

It's crazy, because with my old 93 tempo (hence "boomintempo" LOL) I had an AutoTek xs 1500.1 and a clarion 440 watt amp (Fuses totaled about 190 amps) and my car lights barely dimmed too...that car only had a stock battery and stock alternator too. VERY STRANGE...whatever

Still will install new belt when it finally comes in, maybe it'll be more taut (sp?!).

 

[njaykaplan 10+ year member]

I'm not sure if its been mentioned because i read your whole thread days ago, but what kind of condition is your old belt? I replaced my alternator recently as well, and had bought a new belt, but my belt felt similar to the new one, so i reused it. I had a squeak before, because i had a waterpump slowly dieing, which killed my alternator. I had also installed a bad alternator, which the bearings made a squeal. It would be really helpful to you, if you could identify exactly where the squeal is coming from. If you haven't already, check your tensioner for anything abnormal, make sure it doesnt move at ALL when its tight, no play at all. Also check your idler pulley, 2 things that could produce a squeak and fairly easy to change.

 

[JuicyJeff 10+ year member]

get some belt conditioner/ or belt dressing

 

[Boomintempo 10+ year member]

Thanks for the reply and advice.

It has the be the alternator pulley, but maybe I'm not 100% sure. It squeals for a good 5-10 seconds, then just goes away. It makes me think that maybe the belt is too tight now, and the slipping causes the belt and pulley to heat up...which causes the belt to expand/loosen from all the heat, then the squeal goes away. It's very confusing to me!

The tensioner is as tight as I can get it. The Mechman made the tensioner and all that specifically for my car. It's all as tight as I can get it. I'll post pics here very shortly. I can't get that great of pictures, but hopefully it'll be good enough for you guys to see.

I'm just happy the squealing goes away after 5-10 seconds. However, my car wants to die anytime I let off the gas now. The idle will dip REALLY low...I'll post that crap on a honda forum though //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif Unless someone with a 99 honda accord wants to pipe up.

FYI, there are two pulleys that share a belt with the alternator...they're both huge...they look fine, LOL..that doesn't mean much though I guess.

 

[Boomintempo 10+ year member]

get some belt conditioner/ or belt dressing

Yeah, the belt is probably covered in 1/4 can of belt conditioner/ dressing LOL //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif

 

[terra 5,000+ posts]

A lot of times the tensioner is ok before its released, but after years of being tightly held then released it won't want to go back to the tense state. Mine was like that.

 

[Boomintempo 10+ year member]

Here's a picture of the tensioner if anyone is interested.

Nice and TIGHT //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif

 

[njaykaplan 10+ year member]

Hmm. Not what i expected for a tensioner, i really have no long background with repairing cars, i bought a 93 lincoln about 3 or 4 months ago and have been learning on that car. My tensioner actually directs the belt, and has a pulley on it. So does my idler pulley, which just directs the belt, which is pretty much what the tensioner does on my car, and i just bend it with a breaker bar to loosen or tighten it. Does your car have automatic timing out of curiousity? I was told by my buddy not all cars are that easy to remove the belt and put it back on, if the timing is not automatic, although i'm not sure about that so i'm just throwing it out there just incase. Really inspect everything that is along your belts route though, all the pulleys that the belt runs on, and try to see if the squeak is actually coming from the alternator. When i put mine on there, it wasnt stretching tight, but it looked like its not coming off at all or going to have any problems staying attached. My tensioner adjusts itself though pretty much, once i let go of the breaker bar.