On my 302, the powersteering/fan belt is sqeualing a hell of a lot. I replaced the PS pump and got a new belt. Pulled it REALLY tight and it still squeals. I can see the belt vibrate back n fourth between the fan pulley and the dampner. I cant find a way to fix it. Could the dampner be bent? and thats causing it? or the engine umbalanced? Im just looking for options to why it vibrates/squeals. -Jon

 

have u tried belt dressing? also dont pul the belt to tight or ull damamge the bearing in the ps,w/p

 

should there not be a separate belt for the ps pump?I cant say for sure at the moment because my car has armstrong steering.I know my balancer has 2 grooves and I have seen it on some cars.For a single belt to run thru 4 pulleys,I can see all sorts of squeeling and vibration problems.Also take the belt off and see how much the fan pulleycan move by pulling the fan forward and back.Early ford water pumps are famous for those bearings going.if you find movement replace the w/pump.

 

rub a bar of cheap soap on the belt if not check the water pump as stated above

 

The belt runs through 3 pulleys, the dampner, fan and PS pulleys. The WP is a new weiand, so the bearaing are good- may have hurt it putting it to tight( as someone suggested). So ill check to see how it is today if there is much play and try the soap trick. -Jon

 

run the engine and see if spraying WD40 on the belt helps it. (same as the soap, just far quicker).
If it doesn't, make sure the belt runs in specifications. no idea what they are, but as a general idea:
- stop engine
- you should be able to turn the belt by 90 degrees at the longest stretch with strong fingers.
hope this is clear: not turn as the engine does. turn it around it's own axis

 

The grooved belts don't squeal nearly as bad as the solid belts. Using soap and WD40 or belt dressing is a quick fix for a short time, but the squeal will just come right back. If you have three grooves on your crank, try running a single belt to the PS pump.
Also, check to make sure you have the right belt. A V belt can have narrow or wider V's cut in them. If the V isn't riding down into the pulley, it will squeal.

 

I also found on my car anyway I actually needed a size smaller belt than what is supposed to be on there...

 

After inspecting the belts today i found that the tension is correct, the 90* twist is right and it feels TIGHT. But something i did notice. When i installed the engine, i rustoleumed all the pulleys, 2 or 3 coats. Could this rustoleum in the Belt V's cause it to squeal. Some have overspray and some have a good coat in the mating surface. Just a guess, ill take some sandpaper to the pulley to rough it up and see if that helps. ( although it still squealed b4 the engine rebuild) -Jon

 

That rustoleum wont be around long if the belts are slipping. If the V's in the pulleys are worn out, the belts will squeal regardless of tension and / or load on the belt. The V's can and do wear out, and when they do, the belt will ride in the bottom of the groove when it is supposed to run on the "shoulders" of the belt.

You can try a belt slightly wider, if this fixes the problem, then that is your problem. I have done this on trucks, and it works fine until someone changes the belts and puts the stock ones back on...[:@]

It is also worth noteing that once a belt slips a little while, the shoulders become glazed, they loose traction and then they slip more. So in other words, even if your pulleys are good, if you tighten the belts after they have slipped, they will tend to slip anyway, even if everything else is ok.