lxcoupe

iTrader: (9)

2010 Silverado motor. I tried a shorter belt from the parts store and it will still throw the belt every few days. New tensioner. I've done a bunch of reading and guys have gone as far as replacing the balancer with an ATI and they say the problem persisted even after the new balancer, so I don't think the problem is the balancer. I do see that the later Silverados actually eliminated the a/c tensioner?

arthursc2

iTrader: (5)

unrelated but

my 09 G8 did not have the tensioner, belt was a hassle to put on. But, it threw the belt a couple times too. I never sorted out why, but no tensioner isnt the cure

The Tahoe and C5 both have pretty heavily slotted AC housings, so it might be worth trying to move your compressor forward or back depending on which way you see the belt deflecting (if you can see it at all)

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

I used to have an issue with the tune in my 04 (stock tune for a/c) where the compressor ran a lot more than I wanted and I had the tuner make sure that the compressor engagement settings were adjusted to ensure it never came on at upper rpm

What I'm getting at is make sure your parameters are set to where the compressor cannot be coming on. I suspect you may have an issue with it being on when you get on it. The oe controls make the damn thing come on at all kinds of times you don't really want it on

I used to rev my camaro pretty high and it shifted fast and hard and that's a good belt toss coctail there.

maybe unplug the compressor and see if it still tosses the belt just to rule out the compressor being on causing the issue.

At one point I had tapped into the hot wire going into the compressor and put a test light on the windshield so I could watch it and it was surprising how many times I caught the damn compressor being on when I didn't think it would be.

As a tech I've had a ton of the truck compressors get funky and cause belt issues too. Breaking them, throwing them.. but only if the compressor is engaged. The compressors fail internally and slam on the belt/tensioner. You'll hear tahoes and trucks making this loud rattle sound with the a/c and look down and the tensioner is jumping all over the place, it's the compressor itself doing it, it stops when you turn the a/c off

May not be your problem, just throwing things out there.

Again I'd unplug the compressor first and see what happens just to use as a confirmation of it being potential issues of the compressor running and causing it or guaranteeing that it is a belt alignment/pulley issue.

The doing away of the tensioner on newer vehicles is all over different makes and models, and it came from manufacturers now using stretch fit belts.

03sierraslt

iTrader: (22)

They make a new belt that doesn’t use a tensioner. It’s stretch fit and a pain to get on.

lxcoupe

iTrader: (9)

Good info from both of you guys. It's weird, the belt will stay on for a few days, then I'll notice the a/c isn't working and sure enough the belt has popped off. I reinstall the belt and all is good for a few more days. I know it's not the compressor *running* because when I got the motor running the a/c wasn't charged and the compressor was not ever turned on, and it still threw the belt. That's when I went to a shorter belt that I had laying around. I wonder if I could replace the pulley on the tensioner with a flanged pulley? I also read that some guy actually went to a longer belt than stock, instead of a shorter.

So I could try:
Converting to stretchbelt
Longer Belt
Flanged tensioner pulley for a/c tensioner

madmann26

iTrader: (7)

I would check the pulley alignment first. If ok, is the balancer spinning on the crank snout?

If you have the tensioner, did you replace it with a Delco unit or off the shelf typical crap from the parts store?

Some things I just refuse to cheap out on and pulleys and tensioner are one.

Odd thing for me, I can’t use a Dayco belt on my truck. Doesn’t matter if it’s a Dayco cheap belt or Dayco professional belt. That bitch will squeak like a sum bitch.

I have to use a Continental belt so it doesn’t squeak.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

If I recall correctly the continental is essentially the old goodyear gator back, either a copy or the new maker of that belt branded under continental now. Those things are excellent for curing a squeak. And in some cases the only answer some have found for a squeak.

lxcoupe

iTrader: (9)

I'm gonna try a Continental belt as my main drive belt. After pulling the main supercharger belt off and on dozens of times, trying 5 different tensioners, 10+ different belts, at least 15 different idler pullies, I haven't been able to resolve my squeek. Weird thing is once the motor warms up, squeek is gone. But for those first 15-20 mins in the morning I sound like a damn jalopy driving around.

madmann26

iTrader: (7)

Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak.......


I know it all to well.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

Been there. Used to wait to leave the driveway until it quit

Annoying as f**

On that truck that did it I never did mess with fixing it though. New truck is starting to develop a little bit of that issue and I think it's just an old belt that needs to be replaced. It's original.

I'm a tech and back in the day we had a rash of Chrysler Caravans come through with belt squeaks and none of us techs at the shop ever found anything wrong with them and the only thing that would fix them was the gator back belt.

It's the one with all the slits across the ribs. And I think continental now makes one...?