I've done 3 differently worded searches and did not come up with relevant threads.

My 03 Ranger 3.0 with about 24,000 mi. on it just developed the dreaded squeaking fan belt. I know that this is a common problem and remember reading threads on it. My question is: what are the best remedies to get rid of the squeak?

 

Do not use belt dressing, it will eat the silicone in srpentine belts up, I have used just silicon spray on mine it works great, if that dont work check ur tensioner

 

get a new goodyear gatorback belt... that will fix the problem... for a little while anyway

 

if the squeek isnt bad i make sure the belt is dry and as lean as possible and then i take WD40 to it

if its really bad and wont go away, off to the dealer it goes for the free warrenty work (ofcourse after spraying out the engine bay and acting dumb with the people at the dealership, haha)

 

well if your truck has alot of mods on it...u cant really act dumb....

 

I can't think of any mod that would make the belt squeek. If your under warranty, take it in and have them fix it. It could be your idler pulley or your belt tensioner (Common problem on the 3.0). If you don't want to deal with that, get a good year gator back belt, that should do the trick. If it still is squeeking after a new belt, you know it's either your idler pulley or belt tensioner.

 

i always had a slight chirp on really wet mornings... but it would go away quickly. one day i cleaned my engine compartment, and from then on, the belt squealed bloody murder... almost loud enough to be embarrassing. i tried all kinds of belt dressings, and theyd only work for awhile, then the squeal would come back and get worse and worse.

finally i got a gatorback... hasnt made a single peep, even when its wet out.

 

Alot of the issues that everyone fails to realize is rust or debris in the pulley grooves. After driving the vehicle in the rain, mud, snow, water it will begin to form rust and obtain debris. This happens all too often on other vehicles that I recieve calls on from the dealer, they clean out all of the grooves with a wire brush, brillow pad or steel wool, install a new belt and never see the vehicle again.

 

check all you pulleys and make sure none of them are wobbling, that was my problem.

 

yeah but i can act dumb about the sound, and my engine bay is competely stock

 

I just had to buy a new one that fargin dressing **** sucks.

 

I took the truck to the local Ford dealer, parked near the door they pull vehicles into for work, walked into that door (I never entered the offices or spoke to a service rep), and asked a mechanic if he'd take a minute to diagnosis a fan belt squeak on my truck, which I told him was just outside the door. He said yes, and using a mechanic's stethoscope said the noise was the worst at the tensioner pulley and that the bearing in the stock pulley is known to go bad sometimes, even tho I only have 24,500 mi. on the truck. I got a new pulley for $17 from Checker Auto Parts (the Ford dealer wanted $37) and installed it and the squeak is gone. The pulley from Checker has "made in Canada" stamped on the bearing. The stock pulley doesn't say where its made. Just thought I'd let you all know.

 

^ That works....so does the gatorback....so does lubrication....but my solution was the "Loud Music Mod"....works everytime....now if only it worked on the PS Squeal....

 

Well andrew now u know ONE of the reasons the girls give u funnny looks when you drive by.

Ford replaced my belt tensioner.

 

By the way, I just replaced the idler on my 2002 3.0 for the same reason. Mine was a chirping sound which usually went away once it warmed up. All day yesterday it chirped away. I could barely detect the noise with a mechanic's stethoscope, but for $20 it seemed worth a shot. It's typical sealed bearing failure, imho.

 

My 05 has 7k miles on it, and this morning it was squeaking really bad, it was kind of embarrassing lol. I think i'm gonna try and put a gator belt on myself since I'd have to take out my sound system to take it to the dealer. Good to know that this is common on the 3.0, for me anyways, was hoping it wasn't just bad luck lol.

 

i've had 4 belts replaced..

2 because of puddles.. but I was just dumb

next time it happens, i'm getting a gatorback belt (i'm out of warranty)

 

the tensioner pully is a common problem for all rangers, regardless of what engine you have. On my 2.3L the factory motorcraft belt lasts much longer the the gatorback belt.

 

Alright well, tonight the squeaking was absolutely terrible so I need to do something about it. If i remove my power wire from the engine bay, but leave the rest of my system hooked up, do you think Ford will say anything about voiding my warranty? I just put it back in, and I know if i take it, it will never get put back in cuz its a such a pain the butt.

If it is the tensioner or the idler pulley, what do they do? Replace it?

 

i got a gatorback belt and because I was changing the belt, I got a smaller one and a under drive crank pulley at the same time. It was a good excuse for a mod. quiet since. we shall see.

 

your idler pulley is your tensioner. They are known to go bad in the rangers, regardless of what engine you have.

 

John, try the gatorback belt first. Easy and cheap. That always fixed mine just fine.

Now, my tensioner squeaks for a bit when it gets wet, but always stops when it dries -- it's a different squeak than the belt did.

The Goodyear Gatorback even keeps the squeaks down offroad when I completely soak the front of the motor -- it's quite a belt and worth the high price to solve the 3.0's crappy belt routing squeak.

 

no they are two different pulleys, the idler is the pulley on the top and the tension PULLEY is the one that is on the TENSIONER.....i replaced the idel pulley and the whole tensioner(which comes with a new pulley) and i have not had any noises whatsoever come from my engine, even when driving through 1+ft. of water....

 

If you did not notice, I have a 2.3L, therfor my idler/tension pulley are the same thing. An idlers pulley is there for nothing except to change the route of the belt, if it happens to have adjustment or available tension, it serves both purposes.

 

my bad, though it was the other guy with the 3.0........