Had my serpentine belt replaced recently...used OEM Continental. Tensioner, etc. was inspected and in good condition.

After several weeks, the belt was consistently chirping/squeaking at idle once engine gets to operating temp. Held bar of soap to inside of moving belt (per advice of some) and squeak has gone away.

Questions: Can this cause any harm (I assume not....I know commercially available belt dressings can cause the rubber to deteriorate)? Is this simply masking a problem of some sort that continues to exist or I have I in all likelihood solved my problem?

I have read of others who have had problems with Continental belts.

Thanks!

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Then, after the squeak at idle had disappeared, it squeaked while I drove (which it hadn't done before)! So what did I do? You guessed it: MORE SOAP. Now it doesn't squeak at any speed....we'll see how long this lasts.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

My indy replaced the belt as part of replacing the idler assembly on my 124 car. The belt squeaked after awhile and I took it back. He applied some kind of spray and it stopped for awhile but then returned. I went back again and he replaced the entire idler assembly and the belt, on warranty. No squeak since. The wrench said that sometimes the tolerances on the replacement parts aren't what they should be and the belt rubs.

In your case, the idler assembly may be starting to get out of alignment as the parts wear, causing the squeak with your new belt, which is stiff. This may simply be an advance notice that an idler replacement is in the mid-term future for you (a year or two out, maybe).

A belt dressing (or soap) may be your best option. I doubt that soap will harm the belt; it's inexpensive and readily available.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Something is wrong with the idler assembly as said above. Either the arm or pully is out of whack.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I had a similar problem on my Maytag tumber dryer. The new drive belt squeaked like crazy until I appied some regular bar soap by holding the bar against the moving belt. That was over a year ago, and have had no squeaks since.

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Neil.


1991 190E 2.6 170k
1995 E320CA 57k
1999 Chevy Tahoe 98k
2000 R1150GS 45k
1983 300CD 178k - sold, but not forgotten

Band-aids usually don't harm anything.

Fastlane conti belt from phil squeaked. He sent a replacement (cont) It squeaked too. Chucked them both and bought the one that crosschecked to napa. No more squeak.

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2009 E320 Bluetec 117,000
1995 E300D 306,000 Sold
1996 Ford Taurus LX 130,000 Sold
1985 300TD Still 225,000 Sold
2016 Ford Fusion 24,900

I have the same problem, replaced the belt, I think the tensioner is fine based on the belt deflection. So I got this CRC "Belt Conditioner", which is supposed to eliminate squeaking, but it had the opposite effect. The squeaking just got louder. Soap has worked for me, but it's never lasted long.

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1987 Mercedes 300D ~200K (Greasecar & Biodiesel)
1993 Ford F-250 7.3 IDI diesel 165K (Biodiesel)
1996 Thomas/International Bus with DT466 engine

I ran a Gates and now a 5 year old Conti that I had sitting around in my parts bin. Its starting to crack a bit though, guess they do have a sheld life. No noise, well except for the squeaking the idler arm caused last year when the bearing started to fail and caused it to move every so slightly so it wasn't perfectly straight.

If you have a squeak something is wrong, eventualy it will get worse and you will be able to figure it out. Until then I guess just turn up the radio or start replacing parts and hope you get it.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

if it seems the belts are squeaking at idle and disappear when you accelerate? what kind of soap would I use as a test to see if that might remedy the problem? I replaced all of the belts a little bit over 6 months ago after an accident ( kid cut me off and stomped the brakes ) .. ( all visible belts that can be accessed with ease on a 99 Durango SLT )


any help would be great ...

Something is out of whack. On a serp belt its usualy the tensioner, but if you were hit all bets are off.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200