Well my sister has given me the 99 SS again for the summer. The only problem, besides the tires being sh*t, is that there seems to be a squeak coming from the serpentine(sp?) belt. Would this mean the belt is just off track somewhere, or is it probably one of the parts? When I check under the hood it defentinally sounds like its just comnig from the belt, but my knowledge of cars is non existent. Anyone have a similar problem ever? Cars a 99, A4, 33k miles.

 

Yep, the 99's have squeaky belts. It's caused by an offset belt tensioner I believe. You should be able to get one at a dealership or one of the online parts stores. I haven't gotten one yet, I heard they are expensive.

 

Well that sucks. So id need to get a belt tensioner to fix it?

 

Yea, it's just a loose belt, easy fix!

 

Maybe an easy fix for you, me, not so much. Case of beer to anyone who can fix it

 

I'm not sure exactly what you need to get. Might wanna do some more research before you go buy stuff.

 

I didnt really plan on buying anything right now. My car abilities are about as good as Treys spelling.

 

It is your idler pulley. The stock dust shield is too thin which causes the squeak. There are TSB's on it. You can get the pulley and dust shield from the dealer or just pull the dust shield off.

I also had a terrible problem for a bit where it sounded like the belt was slipping when I gave it throttle from a dead stop. After 2 trips to the track and about 8 runs it seemed to go away.

 

Is it the same for '98s?

I have a bad squeaking on occasional start-ups. Seems like it's coming from the belt. It happened frequently when the weather was cold, I haven't been getting it much since it's warmed up.

 

Yes it is common among 98-2000 LS1's I believe. I know for at least the 98 and 99 it is. I would get the TSB on it and replace the parts it says. You will end up replacing the idler pulley and dust shield which you do not need the dust shield. You also have to change the generator bracket and sometimes the tensioner pulley. It is all fairly easy work with a 15mm socket and a torque wrench. If you do use a dust shield make sure you torque it to 37ftlbs. The factory had a tendancy to over-torque them.

 

Where could I go to get the list of parts? Also any idea how much it would run to get the parts? If its simple enough me and my dad may be able to do it. I dont want to take it to a dealer for something like this if I dont have too. Thanks.

 

TTT in case anyone can help me out.

 

Yes it is fairly simple work. The hardest part is changing the Generator Bracket cause you have to pull the Alternator. If you still have a warranty the dealer will fix it for free. Just tell themt here is a TSB out on the squeaky belt.

 

Unfortunally there is no warranty left on the car. Its more than 3 yrs old, and its just past 30k miles anyways. Last time I tried to get service done on a TSB they just said they didnt need to fix it, it was just sort of a heads up type thing but it didnt require work or something. It was a while ago, I really dont even remember what it was for. I suppose they were probably just lying so they didnt have to do anything. Ive found the # for it, I hope it doesnt cost much if I do need to fix it.

 

try a new gatorback belt first then move on to the tsb.