belt and alternator problem?

[UTR]

Hello! Once again I am reminding you all that I know next to nothing about cars, and changing my own battery and umm whatsitcalled.. air filter was an accomplishment for me. So. Lately, whenever I turn on my car ('specially when it's real cold) an ungodly screechy animal being tortured sound is emitted from under my hood, and only stops after driving it for 1-3 minutes. Besides embarrassing, I'd like to know what it is and if its connected to my other problem.

A driver I work with, who knows a bit about cars merely due to his age told me that the reason my car is somewhat loud in general, is my alternator. How do I confirm/deny this myself?

TIA

[dknight3]

get a new alternator belt and see if it goes away. its pretty easy to change..

oh wait do you have i4 or v6?

[UTR]

Sorry, I should be told you, I just got a new alternator belt put on. I think I have a v6

[dknight3]

you think you have v6? lol
did you tension the belt right?
does it squeek more when you turn the steering wheel?

i dont know, i dont think the alternator would make a squeeking noise but im no expert..

[UTR]

I don't know what tensioning the belt means.

It doesn't squeak more when I turn the wheel, its just a minute or two after ii turn on the car, either leaving in the space, or driving, but when I hit the gas it gets louder until it stops entirely.

[guynlidia2006]

i would suggest goto a shop.. alot of times when someone knows nothing about their car trys to work on it they make it worse, imo

[732Galant]

I am having the exact same problem on my i4. I am hopefully going to try and tighten the belts tomorrow and see if that helps. Its a tremendously embarassing noise and from what I've been told is its either loose or the belts are going, but my belts are only a few months old so I know its not that. Its gotta be to loose.

[silversurfer]

sounds like the bearing in your alternator might be gone , try taking the belt off if it is loose and run the car for a couple of minutes if the noise disappears the alternator is shot.

[732Galant]

So the squealing could be a bad alternator? My belts aren't particularly lose, didnt get a minute to tighten the bolt, but they feel tight. I hope its not a bad alternator.

[UTR]

Uh oh! Different problem. I got a flat tire today and my tire wouldn't come off! I undid the bolts, tried WD40, a few guys stopped to try to help and tried hammers, yanking it really hard, one guy stuck around for about 45 minutes but nothing.. So I drove it across the street to a shop with a note attached.

[pinoyesv6]

remove the lug nuts, and lower hte car slowly with the jack. once u get some of the car's weight on the wheel it should break loose. then bring up the car. don't drop the car you need to be gentle.

[UTR]

Done it.. no luck.

[silversurfer]

some times heating the bolts with a propane torch will expand the nuts around the lugs and they will come off.

[UTR]

I took it to a mechanic and they used a sledge hammer and a crow bar to take the tire off. labor+tire=93 dollars.

[732Galant]

did u have them figure out the squealing?

[UTR]

Yeah sorry, loose belts.

[732Galant]

Gotcha. Guess when it stops snowing/hailing/sleeting here in OCTOBER?!?!?! I will get under the car and tighten the alternator belt and the other ones

[HungarianHunter]

Same thing on my 4 cylinder. I don't know when the belts have been changed last, I just bought the car a week ago. What should I do first, tighten the belts? Or get new ones? Mine squeels when it starts up as well for less than a minute though. When I rev my engine pretty high it stops (?)

Should I buy a new alternator belt or an ac/power steering belt first?