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I have a 2003 Ford Taurus SE and soon after I got it, it started squealing. I replaced the alternator, idler pulley, and the belt itself. The squealing finally stopped after I replaced the belt, but only for a week or so. It squeals almost all the time, except for when I am braking. It stops for a couple seconds when I spray WD-40 on the belt. Since the belt is brand new could it be that it just needs to be broken in a little bit or something? Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance.
Most commonly on a Ford product the cause of a noisy belt is due to oil getting on the belt and pulleys. Changing the belt will only give a temporary fix as you've now experienced. But you made it worse with the WD-40, a bad, bad mistake. You'll need to take the new belt and trash it, clean all of the pulleys with brake cleaner, and then with alcohol and then put a new belt on it. While under the hood, you need to find out where the oil is coming from that is contaminating the belt. It can be an oil leak, coolant leak, brake fluid leak, power steering leak, or an automatic transmission line leaking. If the engine bay is greasy, I'd give it a thorough cleaning. A solution of Dawn and water sprayed on a warm engine at a 25 cent car wash can work wonders on a grimy engine bay. Let the solution sit several minutes before blasting the crap off. Do not let anything like Armorall get on the belt or pulleys.
OR, cause I know somebody is going to say it works wonders, buy a can of belt dressing. It's sticky and won't let the belt slip. The down side, you'll be doing it every weekend and every time it rains. If you decide on this fix, buy a big can as you'll be putting it on often. The plus side- there isn't one and if you keep the car long enough that the belt rots out from the belt dressing, you now have an incredible mess to clean up.
Probably is. My 2000 duratec squealed and if I sprayed water on the belt it went away for a couple of seconds, so after replacing the tensioner, the issue was resolved
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