Belt Noises

[postalUT]

It's getting to be colder outside and I'm beginning to hear some squeaking underneath the hood. Very telltale of a loose belt. I realize the whole expand/contract thing in the winter so I'm really not surprised. I tried to take a look under the hood right before going into work but the plastic shrouding means I can't really get in there to inspect with my hands. However the last two times I've driven it, I haven't heard a noise.

1. How hard is it to replace the belt(s)?
2. Does the LS ('02 V8) have a single serpentine, or a multitude of belts? If there are multiple belts, is it a good idea to get them replaced at the same time or should I do one belt at a time as it goes out?
3. How long can a good quality set of belts last?
4. Could it be fixed by adjusting the tensioner?
5. Just in case, could it be something else besides belts (e.g. A/C compressor bearing)?
6. Can it last a 400 miles trip home so I can replace it by myself in my home garage (I have no tools or workspace here at school)?

 

[SoonerLS]

2) It has a single serpentine belt, per Quik's diagrams in the SC thread.
6) No, you need to replace it now. Well, OK, it would probably last until you got home, but everyone needs one of those "fixing the car on the road without the correct tools" character-building experiences.

 

[Smokey]

Just information, my '92 T/C never made a noise until the first cold spell then it started squeeling when I first started it up in the mornings. After it warmed up it would get quite. I replaced the belt, no improvement. I finally replaced the idler pully and never heard the noise again.

 

[jlser]

Just changed mine on Saturday (2001 V8 Sport). Took about half an hour. Had to remove the plastic engine cover and the air tube from the air cleaner box to the throttle body. When facing the car, on the right is a radiator hose that is mounted to the head with a hard plastic section. You will need to unmount it from the head in order to get the belt past the power steering pulley. Before you start check to see if there is a belt routing diagram under the hood. Before I started I noticed there wasn't one on my car so I made a drawing since there are a lot of pulleys in there. When facing the car on your far left is the hydraulic fan and alternator. In the middle left are two idler pulleys. In the middle the water pump and crankshaft. On the middle right is the tensioner. On the far right is the power steering and air conditioning compressor. I would not say it's easy to change. Very tight area to work in.

 

[LincolnTech38]

mileage?

belt should be changed around 60k.

i finger full of motorcraft dialectric/silcoln caliper grease on the belt ribs will keep the squeak away for a bit.

Jay

 

[postalUT]

jlser: That definitely sounds like more than I'm willing to take on, even in my home garage. I prefer to do as much work as I can myself on my cars. It helps me get to know them a little bit better so I can diagnose problems in case of an emergency, or at least not get screwed by Billy Joe Bob's garage. But I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet on this one

The engine just passed 48k, so that's why I was a little iffy about changing it just yet if i can get a few more thousand miles out of it. Since the squeak hasn't showed itself again I'm more than willing to bet that it was just affected by the first cold startup of the year.

 

[HyeLifeLS]

If it's only 48k miles, you can easily do more. I changed my belt at 110,000+ first time and it still looked good.

 

[jlser]

Mine has 33K on it. I don't drive it every day so I think the belt developed a hard spot in it. The squeak was only occurring when it was cold and was squeaking at a rate less than one engine revolution so I suspected the belt rather than one of the idler pulleys. Rather than go with a factory belt, I opted for the Goodyear Gatorback belt. I've had one on my Mountaineer for a while and it hasn't broke so we'll see how it holds up on the LS. Of course I can change the belt on the Mountaineer in less than 30 seconds rather than 30 minutes for the LS.