2001 pathfinder squeaking belt

[dkl]

I just had the belts changed again (~1 month) - first time was 3 years ago and it's squeaking when car and weather are cold.

I was told I could try "belt dressing" which I never heard of. Is it good idea? Is there something else wrong with the pulleys?

thanks

[NickD85]

you're better off just tensioning the belts. The new ones probably stretched a little bit since they were installed. It takes like 15 minutes; you need to remove the plastic cover underneath the front end, then loosen a bolt that keeps the tensioning pulley in place. After that, there's another bolt that you'll tighten, which will in turn move the pulley and tighten the belt. Finally, retighten the bolt that holds the pulley down, and replace the cover. It's hard to describe in words, but once you get in there and look, it's all pretty self explanatory what needs to happen

[Sizemore]

I was always told that belt dressing is a horrible idea, as it can cause the belt to slip and squeal more than usual. Not sure if it's true or not, but I just stay away from the stuff - just in case.

I replaced my belts about a month ago after one of them had started to crack. I just bought some cheap belts (around $20 I believe), tensioned them, heard squeals, tensioned again, then everything was fine. Next day and I'm hearing squealing again. I then decided to just wait until it was time for me to change my oil out before I got underneathe the car again, which was today.

This time I bought some pretty expensive belts and tensioned them properly - absolutely no squeals now. I attribute the lack of noise now simply to the cheap belts that I had.

[sob]

I had the same issue with my 03.....just have them tighten it.

[dkl]

thanks.

It's not doing it now. So I'll just leave it alone until the next oil change to take a look.

Do you guys adjust the tension yourself? Do you use a belt tension gauge? what should the tension be?

i would hate to make it too tight (or too loose) and break other stuff.

thx.