somewhat urgent b4 500 mile trip today, m50 belt "chirping"......

[ryan roopnarine]

the car has been "abused" (driven by a-holes) for about 1500 miles this week. last nite, after driving a 110 mile trip, i heard a semi-repetitive "chirp-chirp" (like a turntable scratch) whenever i turned the wheels, but not in a constant rythym. threw a coffee cup's worth of water on the ac belt and main drive belt, and the h20 on the main seemed to squelch it....do i need to change it today, or can i just carry a spare, keeping in mind that the car will be driven 500 miles today.....i'd rather get das german part from our men in so-cal and put it on my revolving tab, but i'd have to be at the mercy of autozone if i buy and install one today.

[MikeV]

the car has been "abused" (driven by a-holes) for about 1500 miles this week. last nite, after driving a 110 mile trip, i heard a semi-repetitive "chirp-chirp" (like a turntable scratch) whenever i turned the wheels, but not in a constant rythym. threw a coffee cup's worth of water on the ac belt and main drive belt, and the h20 on the main seemed to squelch it....do i need to change it today, or can i just carry a spare, keeping in mind that the car will be driven 500 miles today.....i'd rather get das german part from our men in so-cal and put it on my revolving tab, but i'd have to be at the mercy of autozone if i buy and install one today.

Make sure it's not the water pump or pulley, that'll strand you for sure.

[ryan roopnarine]

was replaced about 6k miles ago, so even if it is a crappy water pump, i don't think its that....do you think i should replace the belt?

[Tiger]

Then it has to be the belt... u can try cleaning it if fairly new by spraying a soapy mixture of Joy and water on the belt and then rinse it... remember you willl have to rotate the engine a bit to get to those that was on the pulley.

[MikeV]

was replaced about 6k miles ago, so even if it is a crappy water pump, i don't think its that....do you think i should replace the belt?

If the belt looks good, I would probably carry a belt & tools with me. Do a quick tension check, if it's too loose that could cause the chirping, if it's too tight, I would say ya gotta take it off and check the pulleys... changing a belt on the road isn't too bad, if it is a pulley you're screwed...

[Jon K]

Before you do that... spray grase in the pulley just north and west (if looking at motor head on) of the alternator, its a tensioner pulley. In certain humidities mine will chirp... get some wd-40 or something light on it and see.

[ryan roopnarine]

just checked, looks a1 pristine at top and sides, and flexes 1/2-5/8 of an inch....the ac belt however, looks like its about to have a high fantastical failure, cracks everywhere....i, as well as the car, can live without ac though.