GTXJosh
Junior Member
Some time back maybe about 6 months ago, I replaced the belt, tensioner, and idle pully on my 2009 5.7 because I was seeing lots of belt noise. Looking at the belt, it looked like it could have been original to the truck, and previous owners records showed no replacement, so I figured almost 180K miles it was certainly time. Rather than try and find the noise, I figured belt replacement was due anyhow.
Sound gone. For a while. It just came back a week or so ago. Off an on, so hard to pinpoint the source. Anyhow, last couple drives it has been constant, so figured I'd try and locate it this morning, while cool outside. Seemed to be louder on startup, then only noticed the noise about 1500RPM and above after that.
Whenever I go to work under to hood on something like this, I like to clean up and wipe down any dusty areas, dirt, dust, grime, whatever, as it makes it easier to see if there is a leak causing this (or other problems). So about 15 min or so going over every plastic surface I would be touching or leaning on, looked for leaks around PS pump, etc. As I'm finishing off this cleaning, I noticed the A/C lines are quite dirty as well, so wipe those down. I think the AC lines may have been the source of the cause of the noise. See, I determined via the water squirt onto the belt that the power steering pump was the noise source. I had pulled the belt tensioner, and manually spun each pully to eliminate bearing noise. Checked belt visually, and pulley alignment.
Then went to the water while running search. Located. A few squirts of water on the ribs right below the alternator since that is easiest to get at and the noise is nearly gone. A few more directly at the power steering pulley where it meets the belt, and noise gone after a little chatter. And that chatter at beginning and end of the noise did give almost a grind/crackling sound as I'm guessing there were little spots the belt was loosing contact for a bit. Then, I shut down with a plan to clean it well, and hope the annoying noise is taken care of, glad no pulley/bearing Replacement was needed as that is how it sounded. And while looking under the hood after shutdown, I see condensation drip of the A/C lines and fall about 1/4" from the belt in a few spots, the low point of those lines being over the power steering pump pulley. Truck is parked on a slight slope in the driveway, but I suspect that on flat ground those drips would fall right on the pulley. And with the dirt and grime that I had previously wiped off he A/C lines, I figured that was the source of pulley and belt contamination. Time will tell, but I'll make it a routine thing now to wipe down those lines or any areas that could contaminate the belt in the future. Ran a clean rag alone the pulley surface, and the belt, and hardly anything came off. No leaks or other damp looking areas anywhere on the front of the engine area, so this is the only source I could see. Maybe it'll help someone else in the future. It seems the power steering pump has the least wrap of any of the driven areas, so makes sense it would be the one making the noise.
Sound gone. For a while. It just came back a week or so ago. Off an on, so hard to pinpoint the source. Anyhow, last couple drives it has been constant, so figured I'd try and locate it this morning, while cool outside. Seemed to be louder on startup, then only noticed the noise about 1500RPM and above after that.
Whenever I go to work under to hood on something like this, I like to clean up and wipe down any dusty areas, dirt, dust, grime, whatever, as it makes it easier to see if there is a leak causing this (or other problems). So about 15 min or so going over every plastic surface I would be touching or leaning on, looked for leaks around PS pump, etc. As I'm finishing off this cleaning, I noticed the A/C lines are quite dirty as well, so wipe those down. I think the AC lines may have been the source of the cause of the noise. See, I determined via the water squirt onto the belt that the power steering pump was the noise source. I had pulled the belt tensioner, and manually spun each pully to eliminate bearing noise. Checked belt visually, and pulley alignment.
Then went to the water while running search. Located. A few squirts of water on the ribs right below the alternator since that is easiest to get at and the noise is nearly gone. A few more directly at the power steering pulley where it meets the belt, and noise gone after a little chatter. And that chatter at beginning and end of the noise did give almost a grind/crackling sound as I'm guessing there were little spots the belt was loosing contact for a bit. Then, I shut down with a plan to clean it well, and hope the annoying noise is taken care of, glad no pulley/bearing Replacement was needed as that is how it sounded. And while looking under the hood after shutdown, I see condensation drip of the A/C lines and fall about 1/4" from the belt in a few spots, the low point of those lines being over the power steering pump pulley. Truck is parked on a slight slope in the driveway, but I suspect that on flat ground those drips would fall right on the pulley. And with the dirt and grime that I had previously wiped off he A/C lines, I figured that was the source of pulley and belt contamination. Time will tell, but I'll make it a routine thing now to wipe down those lines or any areas that could contaminate the belt in the future. Ran a clean rag alone the pulley surface, and the belt, and hardly anything came off. No leaks or other damp looking areas anywhere on the front of the engine area, so this is the only source I could see. Maybe it'll help someone else in the future. It seems the power steering pump has the least wrap of any of the driven areas, so makes sense it would be the one making the noise.
