My AC works but whenever I turn the car with the AC running the car squeals really loudly. I don't know if it is just the tension in the belt or if it may be something else. I need to know something pretty soon if anyone knows anything. Thanks for your time.

godsman26

I would try tightening the belt first. If you let it squeal you will eventually glaze the belt and it will always squeal no matter how tight you adjust it.

To adjust the belt, jack the car up, take off the drivers side (in US) wheel, and remove the plastic shrouding covering the belt area. should be like three or four bolts holding the plastic on.

now when you look in you will see a pulley with a nut on it towards the front-bottom of the engine. it should have a 12mm or 14mm bolt in the center. loosen the bolt slightly. next, slightly above the pulley there will be another bolt (again I think 12 or 14mm), going vertical. by adjusting this bolt you move the pulley up or down, and that will adjust tension on the belt.

retighten the bolt in the center of the pulley, replace the plastic shroud, put the wheel back on, and see if it's any better.

You can also try spraying some belt dressing on the belt.

hope that helps.

I ran into the same problem three years ago and it seamed that no matter what I did, the squeak would return. You would tighten the belt and a few hundred miles later it would return and only with the AC running, right? When I purchased and installed the Goodyear "Gatorback" belts, I never had this problem again. The belts cost more then the average belt, but they work great!

http://www.goodyearbeltsandhose.com/cars/gatopoly.html

When you tighten the belt, you'll have to turn the engine once or twice then re-check the tension again. What I do is tighten the belt, put the wheel back on without the plastic covers and test drive it with the AC on. Then I take the wheel back off, make final adjustments (if needed) and put it all back together again.

You need about 22 lbs of force between your Idler Pulley and your Crankshaft Pulley, but without a belt tension gauge this is hard to tell by feel. That's why I like to test drive it w/ AC on before I put everything back together. Remember that the AC belt is putting tension on your Crankshaft Pulley, so you do not want to over tighten this belt. You want the tention to be just right.

also running gatorbacks.