Hey guys, I'm in the middle of doing an ac delete and i'm having a bit of an issue with sourcing the right belt size to bypass the compressor. I did a search a few weeks back and came up with the part number 060569, which I believe was for a dayco belt, 57 7/8 inch long 6 rib. While reading that thread I basically gathered that anything between a 57 and 59 inch belt will work. Immediately after switching out the belt I started getting a loud squeal. It does it on start up, and occasionally when idling, it takes a few revs before going away. I came to the conclusion that it was more than likely the alternator since it mostly only happened when the heat/lights were on. had the alternator tested and it turned out ok and the tensioner is fine as well, but the dealer seems to think the belt is to big. I've been searcingh but I haven't really came to much of a conclusion, looking for some feedback on what to do here, has anyone else had this problem when going with the dayco 57 7/8, I was trying to get a size on the gates but couldn't find anything on that. Its a high pitched squeal, gets louder as rpms increase, very intermittent. it seems like most people run this size belt with out any issues so any ideas or input on what this might be would be greatly appreciated

 

Check the tensioner, there are 2 lines on the part that bolts to the block and 1 on the arm that has the pulley (yes its a one piece design but for lack of better terms I'm describing it as 2 parts), the line on the arm should be between the two lines on the part that bolts to the block. If its in between those two parts I would start with the cheapest part which is the belt. The gates part number for the belt that I'm running that I got from stm for deleting the a/c is K060578 and mine is within the lines. Other than that either your tensioner isn't putting enough pressure on the belt, or the bearings in your alt are going out which the test may not show because the alt is still charging properly, the bearings are just going out. BTW the part number I gave is for a 58.378" now that I looked up the specs.

 

Sounds like it is loose.