The Under the Hood Show
Dear Motor Medics, I’ve got a noise under my hood that despite several attempts at repair persists. The vehicle is a 2014 Chevy Tahoe with a 5.3 engine and upon startup it will chirp from the engine drive belts for about 15 minutes no matter what the conditions.
We have tried to repair this by switching the belt which resolved it for about a week.
The next thing we tried was to replace the tensioner in hopes that the belt tension was incorrect. After the tensioner replacement, it lasted another week then was back to chirping again.
Have you had this problem before and if so what kind of things have you done to stop the noise?
My mechanic suggests trying a Gatorback belt. What is a Gatorback belt and do you think it may help?
Daryl in Sheldon, Iowa
Dear Daryl, When we have belt squeaks, we look very closely at all the rotating parts to make certain there is not a problem with alignment or wear that could be the root cause of the noise.
We also check for proper tension and make sure the pulleys all have good bearings.
With that all done we install a new belt and if it squeaks again soon after, we sometimes use the Gatorback belt which is different in design in that it has grooves on both sides of the belt which can help to eliminate noise by providing a better gripping surface area. Take care, The Motor Medics
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