Ever since I had my car (8 years), when I would crank it, I would get a chirp out of the belt.. no big deal. The last year or so it has gotten way worse, I have tried new belts.. I"m on my 3rd.. with no improvement. I've replace the tensioner and power steering pump. The squealing, slipping is the worst when the A/C is on.. so you'd think.. ok its the compressor.. but.. even with the A/C off I can make the belt slip by blipping the throttle.. The slippage almost disappears after about 5-10 mins of driving..after everything gets heated up. I've replaced the front bearing in my alternator.. the rear one is a little bit rough, but it still free wheels nicely..... any ideas?

 

Ever replaced the tensioner?

A chirp at startup can often mean a water pump leaking onto the belt after the engine has stopped.

 

does it sound like a rattle? i think i got the same thing as you. had it checked. they said it was the ac pump

 

Ditto what Shoebox said...make sure nothing is dripping on it.

If you don't have a Goodyear Gatorback belt for it, get one.

I've had two problems with belts in the past.

First was a tensioner. I got one from Autozone...and had even more slipping. I got one from GM and solved that issue. But a new problem cropped up. Everytime it rained...the belt would squeal. The problem was solved when I picked up a Gatorback belt.

 

I've replaced the tensioner. I may try a gator back.. I have tried gates.. and some O'reilly belt. About an hour ago, I was looking at replacing the harmonic balancer because the rubber on mine was getting bad. I put my finger inside the harmonic balancer hub and the bolt in the center was only hanging by a few threads. I took it out with my fingers, when I put it back in and started tightening down on it, the hub started pulling up on the crank.. apparently it had walked outward off the crank probably 1/8'' Kinda scary.. my harmonic balance could have just fallen off.. it was probably the belt holding it on along with the pressure of the key.. anyways.. I'm working on pulling the balancer.. and putting on my "new" one.. then I'll see if the squeal goes away.. I hope so..

 

that fixed it!!!

however.. the harmonic balancer that I bolted on that I bought off a board member appears to be wobbly.. I may put mine original back on..

Recap: the problem was that my blancer hub was walking off the crank.. due to a loose bolt..

 

Actually, things were more screwed up than I thought.. I went to reinstall my original balancer because of the one I had bolted on being wobbly, and I was trying to turn it to align the bolt holes, and the outside of the balancer spun on the rubber, so the rubber chirping noise I was hearing was the balancer spinning on its inner hub.

 

That can't be good .

 

yea.. it could have been really bad.. the balancer and hub could have slid right off the crank.. since the bolt was about to fall out.. and if not that the balancer could have flown apart...