tech2

when you are at the dealer... dealers have cheap a/c delco line too...don't get a cheap line belt...ask for the oem belt..provide the vin

ExpressvanMan2000

Well I ordered the belt today, $80 bucks SHEESH! Now I see why someone attached the adjective "cheap" to the belts sold at auto parts stores. I mean wow I was expecting to pay $35 $40 for the belt not $80 dollars.

I go to pick up the belt tommorow morning , thought about ordering an idler pulley also but was a little fearful of what he might say the price for one is. If the belt was $80 i can the ilder going for $200 easy.

Rednucleus

If the screaming finally stops I would call $80 a sweet deal for you!

tech2

if its a metal idler, buy a bearing for $5 and hammer a new bearing into the pulley.
what is the bigger rip off....a **** part for $40 that you have to go back and change or a good one for $80 and it good the first time. I have been down this road...I only buy oem belts.

ExpressvanMan2000

Well I learned my lesson about belts, been buying cheap ones since I had my first truck a 1997 gmc sonoma....but I guess you can get away with cheaps belts on a small engine such as the v6vortec. but never again will buy a belt that isnt oem! I got the belt for the Xpress about an 1h and half hours ago , put it on and didnt hear the squealing anymore but I have been bamboozled before so I took the van for a test drive and it was quiet as a church mouse!
I cant thank you all enough for the help, this was driving me crazy (haha), so crazy I was going to sell the van, but I think Ill keep it now.

Rednucleus

Curious, did you compare size of the OEM belt side by side to the one you were running?

ExpressvanMan2000

Yes and no.

I didnt really do a thorough visual comparison of the belts just eyeballed them to make sure the general length was the same.

I did notice the oem belt was quite a bit harder to wrap onto the pulleys,hars to explain but I had to kind of use both hands to work the belt onto the crankshaft as I held the ratchet down.

tech2

oem parts are built better 90% of the time. fit better, install faster.

That said...my wife bought a old bmw. dealer parts are insane even with a trade discount. If the job is 3hours or less to install...i go aftermarket. Hate fixing it...Love driving it.

ExpressvanMan2000

So after about a couple months of quietness the squeal came back, again on a humid day, but its now more prevalent when i turn the a/c on. It rained really hard yesterday abd while i was driving in the rain is when the belt really started to squeal. What do I do now im lost. Its nowhere near as bad as before as it will actually go away when the van get a bit down the road. I have it idling with the a/c on and it is quiet
..once i oress the gas it starts to squeal until i let off.

mountainmanjoe

maybe worn pulley