Technical Alternator/belt squeal!

[sfad]

Hi guys, has anyone sorted the awful squealing these cars produce???

Mine has a new belt and a newish recon alternator. It doesnt seem to matter how much the belt is adjusted, as soon as it gets slightly chilly it screeches worse than erm?? really really screechy things! Does it when its damp, at night if have lights on and heater, you name it, it does it:bang:

Ive adjusted it, cleaned it, done the redex thing, done the low tack spray glue thing. At the point now where am embarressed to go out in it.

Am i right in understanding that its the niners that seem to do it more??

Has anyone successfully converted it over to run a poly-v belt at all??

Would fitting a smaller alternator sort it?? Electrics are my failings, never got my head round it. Was thinking smaller alternator, less power being drawn etc?

Hope someone can help? Cheers.

 

[Ffoxy]

Sounds like the squeeling happens when a heavy electrical load is applied to the battery & the alternator is struggling to cope. Fitting a lower power alternator would probably let the battery charge drop.

I'd try a heavier duty battery, especially if the battery you have is 4 - 5 years old or more.

Think of the battery as a power storage device, the more it holds the less charging it needs, so there would be less demand on the alternator.

 

[Dragon Man]

^ this is true, if you check my car out you will see that i have 2. the standard one and a 100Ah battery. since adding the 100ah battery my car starts very easy, infact it throws then engine over much faster now. even if i drain the 100ah battery down, so long as the car is started it doesnt seem to complain when charging it back up.

a agree that a new battery that holds more power will fix your problem.

 

[blu73]

you did get a new belt when you fitted the recon alternator didn't you??

 

[Pep0]

Hi

The belt should not squeal if it is in good condition and adjusted properly, even if the battery was kaput...

Clean the pullys carefully, soak a new belt in Redex and adjust to spec.

Noel

 

[sfad]

Yep! Done all this already guys. First things i did like i said. Battery is 2yr old and fully charged. Thinking may fit the gel battery from the mx5 see if any difference. Will have a fiddle, usually get things sorted, just asked cause prefered not to arse about if there was a fix out there. Cheers

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

I had the same problem with the squealing belt. Eventually I went round the pulley with a file to roughen it up a bit which helped a lot but then bought a Dunlop belt and have not had the problem since. Not sure if the Dunlop belt is made of anything different to others but it really did seem to make a difference.
Cheers,
Ian.

 

[jimbro1000]

The alternative is the belt is getting damp - mine does it when starting the car after it has been rained on but thankfully it only lasts a few seconds. It still shouldn't happen though if the tension is correct (and I can't be bothered to sort it right now on mine). The final alternative is the alternator bearings are worn putting a lot of drag on the belt which will make it squeal hideously. Just because you've replaced/reconditioned it doesn't mean it is working right...

 

[sfad]

Well thanks for all the advice guys. Finally got it sorted for the moment at least
Just stripped everything off, cleaned everything all over again, yet again! Steam cleaned this time though, pain in the a**e it was.
Copper greased bolts n connections n stuff then put all back together n its now super quiet. Totally worth the 3rd degree steam burns lol.