screeching on cold start.

[DrooandhisES]

so, lately my 03 pro es have decided to be pissed off about starting cold. it screeches.....loud... for a good 7-10 seconds. it goes away if i rev the engine. the belts are tight. i'm not losing any p s fluid. im thoroughly confused. help?

 

[Joost27]

how did you determine the belts are tight? I can almost bet ya that the alternator one is not tight enough. I thought mine was tight and it was still slipping, so bought a new one "tightened" it, still slipped, so I cleaned the pulleys and then "over" tightened it, and has been all good for a month now.

 

[blackmica_es]

^^What he said. Pretty sure its the belt not being tight enough or needing to be replaced...

 

[DrooandhisES]

took it to tripoint and reggie tightened it. next morning did it again.

 

[KZL_99ES]

make sure you don't have any accessories or lights on when you start the car and maybe try giving it a tad bit of gas when you just after you start it too.

 

[SlapDash]

It could be the alternator itself. My wife's alternator slowly seized up. Screeched like a fisher cat until the thing kicked it and the belt finally melted/burned/snapped off. When I pulled the alternator, I couldn't even turn the pulley. It was frozen solid, peppered with the remnants of a new belt I bought especially for the noise.

For reference, my wife's car is a 2000 DX with 175,000. 'New' junkyard alt ($25) works great, no screeching, even in 15-degree weather.

Good luck.

 

[KZL_99ES]

i have a brand new alternator and it still squeals; that's if the belt's not tight enough...

 

[DrooandhisES]

i have a brand new alternator and it still squeals; that's if the belt's not tight enough...

read above. the belts r tight

 

[antlind]

Are u running OE belts? I've found that the aftermarket belts tends to chirp and squeak, especially when it's cold.

 

[concept]

Another possibility is an exhaust manifold that is loose. When your engine is cold, start it up and quickly place your hand near the the exhaust manifold/head coupling to feel for exhaust gas leakage. Sometimes this can make a screeching sound when the engine is initially started.

My MX6 will do this occasionally and I then tighten the exhaust manifold nuts to fix it.

 

[MSP2003.5_Nick]

if your belts are squeeking and they are tight then just spray some belt dressing on them. Get it at any parts store. Its a thick sticky grease spray that coats the blets and helps it grip.

 

[cfprotege]

its a bearing in the idle pulley. its attached to the engine. take it off. take the bearing out. replace the bearing, and you'll be good. i been diagnosing mine with the same problem. took me a yr to figure out. but thats it. many proteges ahve the same problem. its for sure not a belt screaching. way louder. good luck to ya