If you hear a drive belt squeak, check the engine mounts too!

[bloodspatteranalyst]

I haven't posted in quite some time but I've taken my ZHP past the 200k mark now and I've been having squeaky belts for the last 400 or so. The odd thing was that the squeak was intermittent and came on and off...

This morning, I had my engine mounts replaced with Corteco M3 mounts. The old mounts were completely destroyed - the rubber had dried up and completely disintegrated while underneath the engine.

With the new mounts on, I realized that the belts/pulleys were not making any more noise.

My hypothesis is that, with worn engine mounts, the engine block was shifting around while driving and causing the belts to misalign and make noise.

Lesson: if your belts are squeaky and you can't seem to figure out why, try inspecting the engine mounts and take care of those, especially if they've never been replaced. I don't know what the PO of my car did, but I'm pretty sure it was running on those original mounts for more than 200k miles.

I don't know if this is common knowledge or not but I thought I'd share.

[Dave1027]

I don't see how the belts can be affected by the motor mounts. The belts and pulleys all move with the engine so it's probably only coincidental.

I think that you should check the condition of the belts and the pulleys themselves.

[az3579]

I don't see how the belts can be affected by the motor mounts. The belts and pulleys all move with the engine so it's probably only coincidental.

I think that you should check the condition of the belts and the pulleys themselves.

I could see how excessive movement on the engine would put additional forces on the pullies, which could make the belts occasionally squeak as the engine is revved. These parts are only designed for a certain amount of engine movement, though I definitely see what you're saying. Weirder things have happened.

[bloodspatteranalyst]

It's been 2 days and I haven't heard any noises from the belt system, whereas I used to hear it pretty much every time I drove, especially after revving the motor out.

I think the mounts need to be REALLY worn before it starts affecting the drive belts and pulleys.

[wsmeyer]

I'll bet it was the mounts themselves squeaking.

[az3579]

If the mounts were that bad, you would have felt a serious vibration in the cabin when accelerating hard.


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[bloodspatteranalyst]

If the mounts were that bad, you would have felt a serious vibration in the cabin when accelerating hard.


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Who said I didn't ? :P

I replaced the mounts to address the (severe steering wheel and cabin vibration, primarily.

[az3579]

Who said I didn't ? :P

I replaced the mounts to address the (severe steering wheel and cabin vibration, primarily.

When mine went bad, it scarred me for life. I couldn't get on the throttle past 1/4 without feeling a horrendous shaking of the engine.
It was weird because it was so sudden. One day fine, the next it felt as though the engine wanted to jump out of the engine bay.