Squeaky belts

[kentmclean at mindspring.com]

Gentlepeople,

For the last few weeks I've heard squeaking from the drive belts in my '89 200 TQ. Initially, the noise was just at idle and when pulling away in first gear. Over time, the squeak occurred more often and in higher gears. Is it the alternator belt? A/C belt? Hydraulic pump belt? I kept putting off looking at it.

Until I returned from a business trip. On the drive home from the airport, the squeak finally went away but the "check battery" light came on. Fortunately, I made it home even though it was night and my 80W Euro lights were sucking the battery dry. 

Procrastinate no more. It turned out to be a very loose alternator belt. When I tried adjusting it, the “star” bolt turned but didn’t move along the geared track. Dang! The b at stard was all chewed up.

I got a replacement from Chris Semple at Force5. He also suggested loosening the bolt on the other end of the cross bar, where it attaches to the A/C pump, to make it easier to tighten the alternator belt. Which I did. No more squeaks. Voltage gauge reads ~13.5v. 

Simple, cheap, and easy solution. I just put it off too long.

Kent McLean
’89 200 TQ, 203K miles