I have a 86 eddie bauer fullsize 5.0 bronco. I have made quite a few successful repairs thanks to many of you gentlemen on this forum. I changed all of my belts back in late winter. Every belt is new and from oreillys gates belts. On my last Bronco I ran all goodyear gatorback belts. For some strange reason sometimes usually after sitting a while my belts make a loud squeling screeching noise while starting. They only do this at the start and no other time. I checked the tightness of the belts and they seem tight and I tried belt dressing and that made it worse. NEED HELP ...THE NOISE IS ANNOYING!!!! :-& #036;
Loud belts @ start
- Thread starter wchampmd
- Start date
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BLADE262US
Active member
Sometimes the idler tension pulley will get a flat spot and create a hum that is very anoying . The noise from sitting is usually rust built up in the pulley grooves and that lets the belt slip till it wears out of the grooves . Ive always run the goodyear gatorbacks as well they have a self clening design but have had one of them squeel all the time too . If the grooves in the pulley get really dirty it will cause the belt to ride up and not get full enguagement that too will cause a squeel . 
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BroncoJoe19
Active member
Thinking outside the box here...
Is it only after the truck sat long enough for rust to build up, or is it every time that you start her up?
IF the latter, perhaps the sound is coming from your starter, and is not the belts at all?
Is it only after the truck sat long enough for rust to build up, or is it every time that you start her up?
IF the latter, perhaps the sound is coming from your starter, and is not the belts at all?
The squeal Happens not every time I start the truck but quite often. Sometimes it does it more times than not. Also the trcks sometimes dies out after the start but it always starts right up.
BroncoJoe19
Active member
If it squeels long enough for you to get out and listen for it, you may find that using a gift wrapping paper tube, or short section of garden hose, held to your ear may help you locate it.
If not that, if you take your belt(s) off and spin each pully and component if one feels gritty, that may be it.
Oh BTW... if you have air conditioning, it could possibly be the A/C clutch.
Regarding your engine dieing out, try pulling diagnostic codes. It is the easiest way to get direction for trouble shooting.
Here is a thread with a tutorial on how to pull codes.
With an '84-'87 all you need is a 4 inch piece of wire and an analog voltmeter.
http://broncozone.com/forums/index.php?s=&...ost&p=74581
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