Vehicle: 1993 J30t (First Year Production)

Symptoms: On the initial start of the day, and sometimes during the day, the car has developed a loud squealing on start-up. Once the engine has started, the squealing starts, and then the engine tone seems to change, and then the squealing goes away.

So, the sound goes away within 30 seconds or so after starting the car.

I posted in another thread here https://forums.nicoclub.com/belt-squealing-t164687.html
but some of the info in that thread does not apply to my particular situation, so I started this thread.

I accessed the belts, pulleys, and their adjusters from underneath the car (which was on car ramps). After disconnecting the battery negative lead, I removed the splash guard (plastic panel under the engine) to gain access. This particular car has been serviced by a bunch of different places over the years and was missing a good number of the fasteners that secure the splash guard in place.

So the first thing I noticed was the adjuster for the power steering pump was as far out as it could go. The other belt adjusters were approximately in the middle of their ranges. So I started with the power steering pump belt

Here are pictures of the adjuster screw from two angles:

The existing power steering pump belt is a Gates 4 rib K040365 MICRO-V BELT Product # 85528672 that is specified by Gates on their site for the J30t.

Anyway, I checked the belt against the Gates specs online and the current belt has an outer circumference that is stretched less than 1/8". So the belt is practically brand new and it looks like it too. Here is the link to their information: https://www.gates.com/us/en/ymm/search/ ... er=K040365

Based on the information I've found so far in troubleshooting this issue, that means this belt is not the correct size for this particular application and is too big in circumference.

So, I took the power steering pump belt off and the squealing problem has gone away. This seems to indicate this is the cause of the problem.

By the way, just moving the adjuster screw does not mean the power steering pump will actually move. You may have to loosen the pivot bolt that is located behind the power steering pump pulley. Here is a picture:



If you don't loosen this pivot bolt, the adjuster will turn fine, but the power steering pump will not move.

So, off to the dealer to get an official OEM belt from the dealer.

Well, after the trip to the dealer - disappointment. The belts were the same size.

After spending about an hour at the parts counter looking at all the different parts breakouts and the numbers, the counter guy and I came to the conclusion that the first year engines must have different brackets or belts than what is shown in the system. We could find nothing to explain why the belt specified in the system is too long.

So, the answer was a change in belt size to a belt that is smaller. Instead of using the factory specified belt that was too long, we picked a number for a belt that was 10mm shorter in circumference and that landed the adjuster in the middle of it's range.

The part number that I used to solve this issue was a 4PK915.

Yes, the correct way to do it. I often get a belt to give me even more adjustment in the future. Meaning almost to the other end of the slot.

Belt catalogs can be off easily a step or two of what individual cars sometimes need, you get the belt that fits YOUR car the best.