Alternator squeal

[fsj]

My alternator on my 2004 Yaris 1.0 has a squeal at low rpm when the headlights are on. How long would you say it has? My luck it will be the alternator bearings. 

[alan333]

The squeal is usually from the belt slipping, not a faulty alternator.

[mickburkesnr]

It going to be the belt that's perishing and is on it's way out. They cost about £10 and are a relatively simple job to sort out.

If it was a bearing it'd be howling all the time.

[fsj]

7 hours ago, mickburkesnr said:

It going to be the belt that's perishing and is on it's way out. They cost about £10 and are a relatively simple job to sort out.

If it was a bearing it'd be howling all the time.

That would be good news. I'd much rather change a belt than an alternator. I'll change the belt and see if it goes away. Thanks.

[Cyker]

If yours is a Mk1 Yaris, it has 2 belts - One that drives the aux/alternator and one that drives the powersteering pump; On mine I had the cat shriek squeal and replaced the alternator/aux belt but that didn't fix it - Turned out i was the other one! (I didn't realise there was another one at the time, thought it had electric power steering!)

Also, get whoever is doing it to give the pulleys a good clean; If there is any grease or oil on them that can also cause squealing. I was getting occasional squeals this year and we suspect it was due to the WD40 I was spraying in there to try and shut it up previously; We used some alcohol-based brake cleaner on the pulleys and now the whole thing is nice and quiet again! :)

[bathtub tom]

WD40 (Water Displacement formula number 40) contains up to 25% oil. Why would anyone want to spray it on something that depends on friction to work?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40

[fsj]

10 hours ago, bathtub tom said:

WD40 (Water Displacement formula number 40) contains up to 25% oil. Why would anyone want to spray it on something that depends on friction to work?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40

I know better than that. I can't imagine WD40 on a belt! Clean and properly adjusted.

 

[fsj]

I've adjusted the alternator belt and it seems to have done the trick. I have noticed the underneath of this car is incredibly rusty though. Not to mention it has electric steering! i had to give up my 2001 CDX Automatic for rust. Looks like this ones not long for this world either! 

 

[alan333]

Depending on which article you read, the average age of a car is about 8 years, and life expectancy somewhere between 10-15 years.

[Dac-1979]

Hi guys new to the yaris, I picked up a 2001 yaris t sport the other day.

Since having it I've started to get a bit of belt squeak, it starts when I turn the car over and after a bit of time it will go away but 10/25 mins later it comes back for a bit.

Grimm looking at the belt and the pulleys there is quite a bit of what looks like rubber burn.

I'm thinking that it's ethier the belt it's self or that I have got a worn bearing on my pulleys. Is this a common problem as seem to hear about the belt squeke alot when was looking on Google.

Also have a plastic dip stick, tried to get a reading from it yesterday and it was impossible to read.

I started the car for 2 mind and then checked but it's all over the dip stick and impossible to get a accurate reading.

What do you all do to over come this problem ?

Cheers Damien 

[Madasafish]

Belt adjustment is easy: near to alternator.. underneath job though..

 

Our 2003 D4D is on its original and it does not squeall

[crofter]

One little trick I learned to easily tell if the belt or bearing were at fault was to apply water to the belt but stay out of the path of any water that gets thrown back If the squeal is still there then it will be the bearings, but is less unlikely as they are sealed

Del

[stantheman1]

To check the oil level, first make sure the engine has been turned off for at least 5 minutes then remove the dip stick and wipe it clean then re insert the dip stick back into its chamber and remove for a second time, take a reading at this point, the level should be between the minimum and maximum indicators.

[fsj]

On 10/21/2017 at 10:51 PM, fsj said:

I've adjusted the alternator belt and it seems to have done the trick. I have noticed the underneath of this car is incredibly rusty though. Not to mention it has electric steering! i had to give up my 2001 CDX Automatic for rust. Looks like this ones not long for this world either! 

 

Ok. Adjusted the belt and it seemed to go away but it's back this morning. I may have to remove and replace it? Now wondering if it IS the belt or something else. Crickets chirping under the hood (bonnet) and yes I've checked. It's not crickets. 

 

[Cyker]

It is most likely the belt(s). Very common thing with Mk1 Yarisusesuis. With the aux belt you can fudge it for a bit longer by pulling the alternator tighter, but to do the power steering one is a jack-car-up job so you may as well replace it if it comes to that.

They aren't that expensive and not too hard to change; Just get whoever's doing it to give all the pulleys a good clean while they're at it tho' (Spray of brake/switch cleaner and a wipe should be enough), esp. if they have dirt/contamination, or the squeal will likely come back sooner rather than later!