Squealing from under the hood

[Unofficial]

When I start up my truck, I get a real high pitched squeal coming from under the hood. It gets louder with the RPMs, and it's worse in park or neutral than it is in gear. It will eventually taper off, but it's VERY annoying, especially when people give me looks...

What could be causing this? The only belt driven things I have are my power steering, and alternator. I don't have the clutch fan, so I don't know how I could determine where it's coming from. Has anybody experienced this? Thanks in advance for any help.

[VileZambonie]

Tighten your belts

[Unofficial]

I figured this squeal was too intense for some loose belts, but I'll tighten them and see what happens.

[eventhorizon66]

Belt screech can be very "intense" and what you described fits the bill perfectly.  While you're under there tightening, inspect them for wear, cracking, etc.

[Lt.Del]

it's VERY annoying, especially when people give me looks...

A remedy is to just remove your exhaust system!

Really, throw a new belt on there.  You'll see (I mean hear) a big difference.

[biggietalls]

mine also has this problem but it only started after i put a e-fan in and it's fine till i turn it on then the sqeuling starts...but what i am thinking is i need a bigger alt. b/c it only does it when im not moving but as soon as i get going down the road my amps go back up and it quits.

soo do i need to get a bigger alt. or do i need to tighten my belt?

[eventhorizon66]

Screeching belts mean that the belt is not quite tight enough to turn it's respective accessory without slippage.  I'd try tightening my alt belt.

That said, if I noticed that my headlights dim significantly when my fan is on, after checking to make sure the rest of my electrical system is up to snuff, I'd consider switching to a higher amp alternator.  E-fans place a fairly high demand on the electrical system.

[Russ130]

It could also mean that the alt is defective. I had this same type of problem where at night when lights are on it would squeal. I bought new belts tightened the heck out of them and it still squealed. So I too was thinking about getting a higher output alt but the original alt was a lifetime warranty from autozone so I figured I might as well get a new alt for free anyhow and shop for a higher output alt after. Well that was a few months ago and I still haven't bought a high output alt since the replacement alt took care of the problem. So lesson learned it's not always a bad belt but could be a bad accessory too.

[Irish_Alley]

the sequel could be from an alt or anything with bearings but like the first couple said check you tension and wear on the belts try spaying some belt dressing on the belts while its running one by one and see what the sequel stops on. if its not the belts they make stethoscopes for mechanics you just take the probe and touch it to the alt, ac, power steering and water pump to see where the noise is comming from just don't let it hit the fan with the ear pieces in ouch