Serpentine Belt and Other Issue Help Please!

[satyr2k2]

Greetings Gen Vibers!

I've been spending the better part of the morning reading the myriad posts about serpentine belt replacement and am, so far, stuck on finding the correct belt to order. As I gather, the Goodyear Gatorback brand of belts is the best bet, but I want to make sure I'm buying the right size.

The model Vibe I have is:
2006 Vibe GT

This is the item I have found so far that seems the most promising:
http://www.amazon.com/Goodyear-4060747- ... automotive" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Is this the correct size? According to my research, this Goodyear part is:
Belt Length (in) 74.75 in.

A little background of what I'm trying to correct - the car just crossed 60k miles and upon cold start, occasionally will emit a constant (pulsing in intensity) squeak coming from the area where the belt is. It sounds an awful lot like a belt as well. I'm hoping that this relatively simple and cheap fix will correct it. Also, the belt has 60k miles on it and probably needs replacing.
-----

Another issue I need help with...

When my air system is turned on, be it heat, A/C, recirc or otherwise, if the fans are blowing, they chirp, like a squirrel and it drives me NUTS. If I turn the fans up in speed, it goes away for a few minutes but ultimately comes back. Anytime a fan speed is maintained for a certain amount of time, the chirp starts back up- is there something I can superlube to get this chirping to go away?


Thanks in advance!
-Casey

[sideshowalan]

Goodyear Gatorback 4060747 is the correct part for the GTs.

Your chirping sounds like some debris in your blower motor or just wear/tear. Remove the blower and see if there is anything stuck in there. Have you replaced the cabin filter recently? If it looks clean, try and lube the fan bearings.

[RedGT]

There is an excellent writeup on here with pictures and instructions for removing the fan. Should be able to find with a quick search. Especially since if the cabin filter is old, you are likely to drop some leaves/acorns/whatever into the fan when you remove the filter. More squirrel-y noises then!

[trb]

Hopefully the belt squeak is the belt and not the tensioner pulley, as the bearings in them can wear and cause noise. And lucky your fan still works! On my sons car, the 06 Vibe, the fan motor intermittantly quit, and when it did run, it made growling or squeaking noises. Ended up buying a new motor on ebay for about $45 that fixed it right up. But if it is just squeaking, try lubing it first.

Good luck!

[satyr2k2]

Thanks to all whom have replied-- as far as lubing the fan/bearings, 1) is the generic superlube good for this and 2) do the photos show where to lube the fan? (Do such photos exist if not?)

[satyr2k2]

I've finally completed this repair, after some fits and starts and I have some updates as well as some questions.

First of all- I purchased the Goodyear belt:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/gtr-4060747" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However, when handed to my mechanic (I decided this may be a little too difficult for me to do), he installed the belt and said it was too big. I looked too- it was pretty floppy, not taut at all. So, we removed the belt and I ran to Autozone for a different length.

The gatorback 4060747 (metric: 6PK1897) is 74.75 total inches or 1897mm- that's where the model numbers come from.

The belt I ended up getting that finally fit is a 6PK1840 (metric) model- 1840mm total overall length. Nearly 3 inches shorter.
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/ ... 150345_0_0_" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Everything seems to be ok for now, however, my question remains. Should I be concerned that every repair manual and parts warehouse that I come across tells me to use a belt that appears to be 3 inches too long for my engine? Is this some kind of indicator that my tensioner is due to die? Or am I just being paranoid and when replacing serpentine belts this is just how things go?

[ehoff121]

Purchased and installed a Goodyear 4060725 Gatorback Poly-V Belt for my 2005 AWD last summer.

The 2005 AWD has the 1ZZ-FE engine.

The link you posted is for the same length belt.

Eliminating the obvious, are you sure it's a GT that you have? Or possible the tensioner was replaced with the wrong part?

Regardless, the belt tensioner shouldn't give enough to allow a belt that was 2 inches too short to be installed.

My new belt required the tensioner to be compressed all the way before it would fit around all of the pulleys and that was a tight fit.

You're probably fine and if the tensioner does go, it's less than $100 for the part.

[Salsa Guy]

Interesting. Are you sure of the routing? Your Tensioner maybe bad but your Mechanic should have picked that up. But back to the first problem only time your belt should make any noise if it has damage to it. On my belt the splice had separated

[ehoff121]

Re: the chirping blower motor...

Here's a related post: viewtopic.php?t=21391

You may need to replace the blower motor.

http://www.amazon.com/Pontiac-Vibe-03-0 ... ibe+blower $39.31 on this seller's listing.

[cptnsolo77]

I was begining to develop a squeal from the pulley area, but I changed out the belt tensioner piston & it solved my issues. Car is nice & quiet at idle now. Just wanted to throw this out there. I know diagnosing those little noises can drive you nuts !!!