justim

Hey Everyone.

Happy new year.

I've been having some squeaking issues on the serpentine belt for a little while now. The squeak goes away for a week when I put a new belt on but it eventually comes back. I'm about 90% sure the issue is caused by the alternator being a few mm out of alignment. Does anyone know how to shift the alternator backwards so the pulley is aligned properly?

the car is a 2000 gs300

Mr Jokster

iTrader: (8)

Before trying to fix a problem that may not be the problem, it needs to be properly diagnosed. What makes you think its out of alignment? What made you change the belt? Lastly, how do you know its not a pulley that needs to be replaced? If a pulley is misaligned, the edge of the belt will be frayed, was it? Is it a constant squeal or a chirp?

justim

I changed the belt just because I had a brand new one handy.

I suspect the alternator because earlier this year it was removed by a mechanic and put back on. The mechanic wrongly diagnosed a problem with a pulley and tried to replace the alternator with an aftermarket one. After this didn't fix the problem he put the OEM alternator back on.

I guess it's tough to see in the picture but the alternator looks like its too far forward. I'll try taking another picture to demonstrate this.



It could be a pulley that needs replacing but I figured the protruding alternator seems pretty obvious. Belt doesn't look very frayed but it also hasn't been on there for too long. There is some wear on the sides. The squeak is constant at any speed above 1.5k rpm.

kevin3344

Believe it or not I had this same problem when I had my alternator replaced. Squeaky belt that would come and go. I tried everything to get rid of it, even took it back to the mechanic to have the belt replaced and after a little while the squeak came back. He assured me it was a Toyota/Lexus approved belt. After all else failed I took it to the Lexus dealer thinking something was off and they replaced it with a true OEM belt and the squeak was gone! So be sure you're using the true OEM belt and see if that fixes it.

justim

I'll give that a try. I assume this means the OEM belts are just slightly skinnier than the aftermarket belts.

kevin3344

Let us know how it works, I bet it solves the problem. I probably dealt with this for a couple of months. Used a whole can of CRC Belt Conditioner on it, too, to no avail. Once the OEM belt was installed I've never heard anything since.

justim

The OEM belt fixed the squeak as far as I can tell. It's been on the car for a week now and not a single squeak has been heard.

kevin3344

That's great news, I fought with that same issue for a while. Glad you got it worked out!