97 Malibu V6 3.1L Belt Noise

Hello,

Whenever I apply gas I will hear some "Ji Ji Ji Ji...." noise from the front hood. The volume of the noise is not high but is found to be proportional to how much gas I applied at the gas pedal.

I located the noise at the belt. Then I bought a bottle of Belt Dresser for $5.00 and applied almost all of it to the belt. After a few drives, this belt noise problem is gone!

My questions are:
Will this noise come back when the belt is dry out of the dresser? What is the source reason of the belt noise? Is it because the belt is too tight or loose? If it is so how to adjust the tightness? Will this problem if due to friction reduce the fuel mileage?

Thanks a lot for your help!

When noise returns...Rotate the belt so it goes around the opposite direction- I'll bet it is quiet again- or of course you can buy a new belt- I 've done the rotate trick several times- works each time....

When noise returns...Rotate the belt so it goes around the opposite direction- I'll bet it is quiet again- or of course you can buy a new belt- I 've done the rotate trick several times- works each time....


Hello brcidd:

How could the belt be rotated backwards since it is very tight? Or I didn't try hard enough? Any suggestions?

I will however definitely try to use this method if the noise come back again.

Thanks a lot!

You take it off- hold it out and turn it around 180 degrees and put it back on- the inside grooves of the belt now run on the outside of the pulleys and vice versa....sort of like rotating your tires....

You take it off- hold it out and turn it around 180 degrees and put it back on- the inside grooves of the belt now run on the outside of the pulleys and vice versa....sort of like rotating your tires....

Hi brcidd:

The belt noise is back again, seems that the belt dresser is not very helpful. The noise will however disappear after about 15 minutes drive. When there is noise, the engine is vibrating slightly. Is this engine vibrating due the old belt or is there anything else?

I plan to replace the belt myself and tried to loose the belt tensioner. The bolt on the tensioner was loosen, but the tensioner was still too tight to be moved to remove the belt. Any suggestions on replacing the belt?

Thank you!

I ended up replacing the serpentine belt which ultimately eliminated the noise. Its pretty quiet now. The only disappointing thing is that I did not change the belt myself, could not figure it out how to loose the tensioner. Also the belt dresser is useless, don't waste money on it. Rotating the belt should be a good alternative temporary solution.