I have a 94 Jimmy with the 4.3L Vortec(engine code W). I have a belt squeal. When it originally started I replaced the belt and tensioner(from Autozone) and it took care of the problem. About 2 weeks later I had another squeal(only when it was cold, after warming up it went away) and replaced the tensioner again under warranty. Later that night the belt started threading and I replaced it under warranty. Everything was good again except the next day it started to squeal again(this time all the time). I replaced the tensioner again 2 days ago except this time from Advance as I only heard bad things about tensioners from Autozone. Had no change. I replaced the tensioner again but this time instead of a Dayco, I got a Gator from O'Rielly's. The squeal is still there at all times, but its not as loud after it warms up. As of right now I have a Gator Tensioner and a Kelly Springfield Belt. Myself, my dad, 4 friends who work on cars quite a bit, and a shop have all looked at it and tried to find the problem and have yet to find it. All of the pulleys are clean and all of them except the crank pulley turns freely with no noise. Does anyone have any idea what to try next, as it has stumped the shop, myself, my dad, and my 4 friends?

I know its not much. but, i had a squeeker like that. i put some belt dressing on it and the noise was gone. my brother works at a shop and he told be that the belt wasn't making good contact with the pullies. said to try belt dressing. and he was right. something about expansion and contraction. what ever it was it worked.

I know its not much. but, i had a squeeker like that. i put some belt dressing on it and the noise was gone. my brother works at a shop and he told be that the belt wasn't making good contact with the pullies. said to try belt dressing. and he was right. something about expansion and contraction. what ever it was it worked.

Thanks for your reply, however I'm not going to use belt dressing unless I absolutely have to because I always have been a believer that belt dressing does not take care of the problem, and that it only hides its and is a short fix and I don't believe in doing any short-term fixes, and believe in fixing it right, and never using products to hide things. I have an appointment with the shop this coming week to have my Jimmy looked at for an unrelated problem, so I'll go ahead and have them look over the squealing and see if the can came up with anything. If anyone else out there can come up with a suggestion before Monday, please post it and let me know.

Belt lube ain't a bad thing, if you door hinge squeeked would you lubricate it or replace the hinge. It just stops some of the rubber to metal friction it won't hide a bad pully or other problem.
Speaking of pullies, are all of yours in line, an out or line pully or one at an angle to the others will cause a squeeeal.
Is your belt the right length? There are several different belt lengths used on the Jimmy and parts stores, as I found out will use the near enouth is good enough sales technique. Check the tensioner, there is a indicator for belt length. The diamond should be between the two lines cast into the tensioner. This is a belt length indicatior to tell you when your belt is streaching and needs to be replaced.
When the parts guy uses the NEiGE technique and sells you the belt thats 7cm to long it reduces the tension on the belt and causes a squeal when the alternator is at high load like, lights, heater, charging battery, accelerating from a low speed.
Gates says we use either a K060938 or a K060956, which means that they are 6 rib belts either 938 or 956 cm long. I had to do trial and error belt changes in the parking lot to find the right belt, because the parts store book was wrong. I wrote the number of the belt on the tensioner and I check the wear indicator as part of every oil change.
Hope this helps, see ya.
94

Belt lube ain't a bad thing, if you door hinge squeeked would you lubricate it or replace the hinge. It just stops some of the rubber to metal friction it won't hide a bad pully or other problem.
Speaking of pullies, are all of yours in line, an out or line pully or one at an angle to the others will cause a squeeeal.
Is your belt the right length? There are several different belt lengths used on the Jimmy and parts stores, as I found out will use the near enouth is good enough sales technique. Check the tensioner, there is a indicator for belt length. The diamond should be between the two lines cast into the tensioner. This is a belt length indicatior to tell you when your belt is streaching and needs to be replaced.
When the parts guy uses the NEiGE technique and sells you the belt thats 7cm to long it reduces the tension on the belt and causes a squeal when the alternator is at high load like, lights, heater, charging battery, accelerating from a low speed.
Gates says we use either a K060938 or a K060956, which means that they are 6 rib belts either 938 or 956 cm long. I had to do trial and error belt changes in the parking lot to find the right belt, because the parts store book was wrong. I wrote the number of the belt on the tensioner and I check the wear indicator as part of every oil change.
Hope this helps, see ya.
94

Yes all my pullies are in line and the diamond is between the 2 lines on the tensioner. I wasn't able to put in in to the shop like planned do to not having a settlement come in on time like expecting, so I'll probably end up having to use some belt dressing on it to see if it quites it down.

Belt lube ain't a bad thing, if you door hinge squeeked would you lubricate it or replace the hinge. It just stops some of the rubber to metal friction it won't hide a bad pully or other problem.
Speaking of pullies, are all of yours in line, an out or line pully or one at an angle to the others will cause a squeeeal.
Is your belt the right length? There are several different belt lengths used on the Jimmy and parts stores, as I found out will use the near enouth is good enough sales technique. Check the tensioner, there is a indicator for belt length. The diamond should be between the two lines cast into the tensioner. This is a belt length indicatior to tell you when your belt is streaching and needs to be replaced.
When the parts guy uses the NEiGE technique and sells you the belt thats 7cm to long it reduces the tension on the belt and causes a squeal when the alternator is at high load like, lights, heater, charging battery, accelerating from a low speed.
Gates says we use either a K060938 or a K060956, which means that they are 6 rib belts either 938 or 956 cm long. I had to do trial and error belt changes in the parking lot to find the right belt, because the parts store book was wrong. I wrote the number of the belt on the tensioner and I check the wear indicator as part of every oil change.
Hope this helps, see ya.
94

Wrong, comparing a squealing belt to a door hinge is straight out retarded.

I don't think the tensioner is the problem, something else is causing it.

Wrong, comparing a squealing belt to a door hinge is straight out retarded.

I don't think the tensioner is the problem, something else is causing it.

Well after driving the Jimmy for a while with the belt squeal it seems to have another problem possibly related to it. The A/C does not want to get cold as it should until about 5-15 minutes of driving. Sometimes the compressor will kick on as soon as I turn the air on, and work as it should and than most of the time it will take atleast 5 minutes of driving with the air on before the compressor kicks in, the compressor doesn't seem to want to kick in when idling at all. The compressor used to kick on as it should, but for about the last several days ive noticed it been having the problem with the compressor kicking on as it should. Does anyone think this is related to the squealing noise, and if so, is there any way I can test it to make sure that is the problem? By the way, the A/C system is still factory R-12 freon and I have checked it with a gauge and it is showing up full. I had the same problem about 3 weeks ago and a guy who worked on A/C's said it was because the system had air in its system and it was low on freon also, but with the air in the system it caused it to read full. I had the system vacuumed down and recharged as I was told to do, and it did take care of the problem for the couple weeks. It did it once or twice about a week ago, but than from just about Saturday or so was when it started doing it most of the time. Any help will be greatly apprecriated. Thanks to everyone for their replies up to this point.