Protege5 Belt Squeal and Chirp

[pmoon00]

Hey Guys,

This is the first time I have posted on here. My Mazda Protege 5 2003 (actually called Mazda 323 SP20 where I'm from haha), has got a belt that squeals for about 10-20 seconds on start up. This doesn't happen every time but generally happens when it is cold and has been raining. Lately I have noticed that all every time I start the car there is a little chirp, like a short squeal of where the belt squeaks. I have a feeling that it is a belt that is rubbing up against another belt pulley.

Do any of you have this (or have had this) problem? Any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers!

 

[pcb]

Your alternator belt is slipping on the pulley and you probably need to tighten it. It is pretty hard to reach in there to measure the belt deflection of 10 mm with a ruler while guessing 22 lbs of force. A good rule of thumb is to reach in and grab the belt on the top half way between the alternator and water pump pulleys and twist it. It should twist between 1/4 and 1/2 a turn,... so the belt should almost turn upside down but if it turns further, it's too loose.

Be careful not to over tighten the belt because that can over stress the bearing in the alternator and cause failure. The design of our belt system is a little lacking,... our alternator pulley is quite small (to help keep the rpm's up) and the belt doesn't wrap around the pulley very much (I've seen cars with idler wheels to wrap the alt. pulley about 3/4 the way around)

It also helps to turn off all electrical loads for the first half minute or so when starting the car. My car has daytime running lights and if it squeals at startup, I pull up the brake lever which shuts them off and the squealing stops the instant the headlights turn off (less electrical load means less drag from the alt.) I even shut off every unnecessary electrical load before shut off to help fully charge the battery to reduce the load at startup.

New belts can help a lot with the squealing,... they are nice and grippy but after too much squealing, the belts become glazed and slip even easier. A lot of guys use Gatorback belts and that's what I've got. They are only a few bucks more than the other belts so the cost is well worth it.

Just be careful about the over tightening,... I went through three alternators before doing my own work on my car (thanks to this web site) and it was because the guys at the shop over tightened the belt and the bearings failed.

A failed alt. bearing has a different sound than a slipping belt. It's higher pitched (more tinney) ,... A Lot quieter,... follows engine rpm's,... and you can hear it all the time.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?a=G-mazda

 

[pmoon00]

Belts checked

Your alternator belt is slipping on the pulley and you probably need to tighten it. It is pretty hard to reach in there to measure the belt deflection of 10 mm with a ruler while guessing 22 lbs of force. A good rule of thumb is to reach in and grab the belt on the top half way between the alternator and water pump pulleys and twist it. It should twist between 1/4 and 1/2 a turn,... so the belt should almost turn upside down but if it turns further, it's too loose.

Be careful not to over tighten the belt because that can over stress the bearing in the alternator and cause failure. The design of our belt system is a little lacking,... our alternator pulley is quite small (to help keep the rpm's up) and the belt doesn't wrap around the pulley very much (I've seen cars with idler wheels to wrap the alt. pulley about 3/4 the way around)

It also helps to turn off all electrical loads for the first half minute or so when starting the car. My car has daytime running lights and if it squeals at startup, I pull up the brake lever which shuts them off and the squealing stops the instant the headlights turn off (less electrical load means less drag from the alt.) I even shut off every unnecessary electrical load before shut off to help fully charge the battery to reduce the load at startup.

New belts can help a lot with the squealing,... they are nice and grippy but after too much squealing, the belts become glazed and slip even easier. A lot of guys use Gatorback belts and that's what I've got. They are only a few bucks more than the other belts so the cost is well worth it.

Just be careful about the over tightening,... I went through three alternators before doing my own work on my car (thanks to this web site) and it was because the guys at the shop over tightened the belt and the bearings failed.

A failed alt. bearing has a different sound than a slipping belt. It's higher pitched (more tinney) ,... A Lot quieter,... follows engine rpm's,... and you can hear it all the time.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?a=G-mazda

Thanks for the advice but I have already checked the belt tightness with that rule of thumb. It turned half way around (maybe a tiny little bit more), so maybe it could do with a little bit of tightening. I will try and do that.

Would this affect start up? I have also had this issue where some times it takes quite a few turn overs from the starter motor before the engine fires up.

 

[pcb]

It does sound like your belt is a little loose but I don't think that should have anything to do with how long it takes to get your engine running.

 

[Installshield 2]

belts wear out dude...you just need a pair of accessory belts...over time they stretch, which can cause them to slip...even a small amount of slipping will make a lot of noise, and quickly burn/glaze the ribbed inner section of the belt...in which case the belt pretty much died, and can squeal no matter how much you tighten it...plus, over tightening can put unwanted stress on the accessory bearings attached to the pulleys...

They do make 'belt dressing' to remove the squealing...but its just a temp fix...for $25 at nearly any parts store you can find brand new belts...installation takes about 15 minutes...

that wouldn't effect start up...which is something else...could be coils, plugs, wires...or something fuel related...

 

[pkane]

I am experiencing the same belt squeal on 2 of my P5s and one has new belts (stretch...?).

If the alternator belt is slipping, couldn't the battery not be fully charging and causing a hard start?

 

[pmoon00]

Yeah I think I will have to get around to changing the belt. Just hard to get to them. I think the start up issue might be fuel filter related. I have a feeling that the filter in my car hasn't been changed in a while, since it's in such a s*** place. Why couldn't they just put the filter under the hood?!

 

[ProtegeFL]

Because the P-5 has no fuel filter.At all.There's just a nylon sock at the fuel pump pickup,down in the fuel tank.
By the way,mine squeals too,but it's due for new belts.It only happens intermittently when I run the a/c when it's humid or rainy.
If you change your own,tighten to spec, run for 15-20 minutes,go back and check again.(from the shop manual).
Good luck.

 

[pmoon00]

I thought it did have a fuel filter. It surrounds the fuel pump in the tank. The sock is to pick up larger chunks of s*** that shouldn't be in there haha.

I find the chirping (and some times squealing) happens when there is load on the engine or I let the RPMs drop a bit too low because I have no given it enough gas while bringing the clutch up. I suppose this is because the engine rumbles about a bit and gets the belt to slip.

 

[pmoon00]

So I checked the belt out today and decided to tighten it as it was a bit loose. As I got to loosen the two bolts, the bolt on the top of the alternator was already loose! I undid the bottom bolt and that one was done up waaaay too much. So I'm thinking that whoever did it last did it wrong! So I tensioned it up a bit more and then did up the two bolts. The chirp I got on starting up the car went away straight away! Very pleased haha. So if you guys are experiencing the belt chirp on start up, it's most like that it is too loose and that one of the bolts and hold the tension is not done up tight enough.

 

[pcb]

Because the P-5 has no fuel filter.At all.There's just a nylon sock at the fuel pump pickup,down in the fuel tank.
By the way,mine squeals too,but it's due for new belts.It only happens intermittently when I run the a/c when it's humid or rainy.
If you change your own,tighten to spec, run for 15-20 minutes,go back and check again.(from the shop manual).
Good luck.

There definitely is a fuel filter on the P5 !!!

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...How-To-Change-Your-Fuel-Filter-(lots-of-pics)

 

[ProtegeFL]

I stand corrected then.I've read no less than 15 times,in various forums,that it existed,but was "unserviceable".I can sort of see why they might say that.I pulled the seat and removed the panel on mine thinking I'd maybe spray it with some some PB,for(whenever)but everything's still shiny and clean in there.Probably because I just cracked 60,000 miles and live in Florida.

 

[pcb]

I stand corrected then.I've read no less than 15 times,in various forums,that it existed,but was "unserviceable".I can sort of see why they might say that.I pulled the seat and removed the panel on mine thinking I'd maybe spray it with some some PB,for(whenever)but everything's still shiny and clean in there.Probably because I just cracked 60,000 miles and live in Florida.

You could replace your filter in half an hour then.