Squeaky belt / pulley help

[Pappy Van Runkle]

I thought there might already be a thread on here about this, but I was unable to find one. I've got a squeaky belt/pulley situation. It was squeaking a little bit and, at the recommendation of a fellow Jeep owner, I sprayed some belt conditioner on it. WRONG ANSWER! The minor squeak turned into a loud squeal. I decided to drive it around some to see if it subsides. It has subsided some, doesn't really happen much when i'm idling or at lower RPM's but gets worse as I hit higher RPM's. The belt is not cracked or worn. I've read suggestions on the first thing I should do is tighten the bolt on the tensioner pulley, which from what I understand, requires removing the bolts from the power steering pump and taking the tensioner pulley bolt all the way out. Is this the recommended first step? Any help anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Flyer58]

I just adjusted mine twice last week because it had a horrendous squeal when I started the cold engine. I isolated it to the idler pully slipping (no AC). Tightening the old belt helped so now I only get a short chirp when starting. You don't need to remove any bolts only loosen them so the pump will pivot. On my 2.5L there's two bolts on the front of the steering pump and two on the back side that you'll loosen. Then turn the adjusting bolt/rod with the head that faces the front left wheel. Mine was frozen and needed lots of BP Blaster to get moving.

They say the belt should have 1/2in flex between the top pullies and I just winged it and got it close. Too much tension and you'll destroy the bearings in the pump and alternator.

 

[Pappy Van Runkle]

I just adjusted mine twice last week because it had a horrendous squeal when I started the cold engine. I isolated it to the idler pully slipping (no AC). Tightening the old belt helped so now I only get a short chirp when starting. You don't need to remove any bolts only loosen them so the pump will pivot. On my 2.5L there's two bolts on the front of the steering pump and two on the back side that you'll loosen. Then turn the adjusting bolt/rod with the head that faces the front left wheel. Mine was frozen and needed lots of BP Blaster to get moving.

They say the belt should have 1/2in flex between the top pullies and I just winged it and got it close. Too much tension and you'll destroy the bearings in the pump and alternator.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to give this a try this week!

 

[Pappy Van Runkle]

I just adjusted mine twice last week because it had a horrendous squeal when I started the cold engine. I isolated it to the idler pully slipping (no AC). Tightening the old belt helped so now I only get a short chirp when starting. You don't need to remove any bolts only loosen them so the pump will pivot. On my 2.5L there's two bolts on the front of the steering pump and two on the back side that you'll loosen. Then turn the adjusting bolt/rod with the head that faces the front left wheel. Mine was frozen and needed lots of BP Blaster to get moving.

They say the belt should have 1/2in flex between the top pullies and I just winged it and got it close. Too much tension and you'll destroy the bearings in the pump and alternator.

@Flyer58, does your Jeep have a/c or no? When I tried to tighten it, I only loosened two bolts and it didn't seem to help. Don't think I loosened all the ones that I should have

 

[Flyer58]

@Flyer58, does your Jeep have a/c or no? When I tried to tighten it, I only loosened two bolts and it didn't seem to help. Don't think I loosened all the ones that I should have

Sorry I was out for a week. No AC on mine.

If this is what your pump looks like then loosen these two bolts on the front side and two with smaller heads on the back side - No pic of the back.