When I start my car in the morning you can hear this whining noise/squealing for awhile. It doesn't do it when I drive off or at least I can't hear it because the car is loud. It only does it when it's cold and when the clutch is pushed in. Today is about around 71 outside and you can still kind of hear it. My father looked around to find the problem; he thinks it's the Alternator, maybe the Belt. He took a screwdriver, pushed it on top of the Alternator and put his ear at the other end (I guess you can hear it better that way). So that's why he thinks it's that, throw out bearing I think he said. I'm not sure, but I don't trust his advice much because he, well I don't know, a lot of reasons.

Oh I have noticed before that sometimes my lights will flicker, could be because they're on high beams, not hooked up correctly and I know they don't fit my Mustang.

1995 Ford Mustang 5.0 GT

Edit 1: I'm pretty sure they're Halo Lights.

Edit 2: Okay well my friend says it's the Belt and now I think about it it makes sense. It only does it when it's cold. Which means the fan belt is harden and when it's warm it's soft or whatever, that's when the noise goes away. If it was my Alternator then I would have electrical problems right? Well nothing is wrong there. Now when I got the car I haven't replaced the belt and I've put around 15,000 miles on it at least. I got it last May and I've done a California trip and another long road trip, just not as long.

I DON'T KNOW, I ******* HATE THIS **** AND I'VE NEVER REPLACED A BELT BEFORE.

 

Id check your belt, make sure its in good condition, if not then your pulleys or bearings might be going bad, ive seen it on older cars with allot of miles. Also could be your radiator fan but it doesnt sound like it.

 

I already said my belt wasn't in good condition, but I honestly don't know how to tell. I can see wear and it's dry as hell, no grease, nothing on it. My dad thinks it's the bearings in the Alternator are going bad.

It only does it when it's cold, so for a few minutes if that and the clutch has to be pushed in.

 

Yea your probably gunna have to change the bearings on it man. How many miles you got on it again? Belt could be it but i kinda doubt it honestly.

 

96,000, got it at 85,000 last May. Wouldn't I just need to replace the whole thing?

 

I have no idea how much it could be to replace a bearing on a car, I did on a 72inch deck tractor mower for about 150$ (including installation) and im sure a car would be more. If you do replace the bearing id just replace the belt too to make sure, ur best idea is to take it to a shop and have them find out which one is the one goin bad.

 

See the problem is like I said it only does it when it's cold, in the morning for a few minutes. So how would the shop be able to know if they wont be able to hear it or anything? I meant replace the whole Alternator.

 

Why would you replace the alternator?

 

I'm confused now.

 

Lol i might be thinkin wrong, i dunno **** about alternators, i just have a general knowledge But if its squeelin id say a bearing on your belts or pulley might be goin bad.

 

Belts are easy:
1. Stick a breaker bar or socket wrench into the tensioner and turn it to relaese the tension.
2. Remove the belt.
Make sure you note how the belt is routed before you remove the old one.

As for the bearings, check the tensioner and idler pulleys first. Those generally will go first. If it is the alt, either rebuilt it or get a new one.

 

I had a nasty squeak and it was my belt tensioner. I replaced the belt since I was in there anyways. Its really easy.

 

I do know that my belt needs to replaced. I have no clue how to do it even though you explained. How do I check the tensioner? I don't even know what that is too or the pulleys. I fail badly. LoL

All I know is my father thinks it's the Alt bearings going out. I think it's the belt, my friend thinks so and yeah. I'm still not thinking right.

Also I still need help with my brake pads if should replace them when I get the clips or not. :/

 

I personaly think ull be fine on the brake pads. And for the pulley sry idk either ive never had to do so on a car.

 

Yeah its your belt. I had the same issue on two other cars. A way to tell if the belt is bad is to check if the belt has any cracks even small ones. check outside and inside of belt. It is really really easy to change and not expensive at all for the new belt.

 

Lets see, there is tear on top of it, like wear (not good type), um it's so dry you can whipe it and the towell or whatever will be perfectly clean. If you look under it where there is groves/notches you acn see like it got streched and broke it. It's hard to explaine.

bottom part:
========

What I see:
=|=|=|=|=|=

If that make sense.

 

yeah you def need to change it. Get the haynes book for your stang and it will guide you through how to change it. It will tell you where the tensioner is.

 

Yeah I have it, I had to get it for my tune up and more. Is there any kind of certain belts I should get? Performance wise.

 

Just ask the auto store what they have i put something called like gator or something on my buddies ford ranger

 

just get like a middle of the road one. they will show you what they have and can explain why one is better or not.

 

uptop he said his car was a 5.0... wasnt aware that a 5.0 went past 94..

 

LoL Stephen we got into that in General Talk last year, it goes up to 95.

Well everytime I look at the stupid AutoZone to get a price range for anything, it's always like we don't carry that model. WTF

 

The tensioner is the pulley attached by a pivot arm and has a 3/8" square key where you attach your breaker bar. Rotate it to relieve the tension.

To check the pulleys (belt must be off), check for excessive play or if they take a lot of force to turn. Either or means you need a new pulley or bearings.

 

Also just make sure you dont get a cheap *** belt, i dont really think theres ones for performance, just ones that wear well and fit right.

 

bassman97 - What kind of belt should I get from CarQuest and do I need new brake pads?

 

When I did mine, Car Quest didn't have a choice. However, they seem to have a choice of pulleys.

As for pads, that's up to you. You can be cheap and reuse them just fine (maybe sand off any glaze, if there is any) but that's up to you.

 

I'm just going to go with the Belt for now and hopefully that's the problem. It doesn't bother me or anything, but yeah I like to keep it clean. Where should I go for a belt and what kind?

Money isn't a problem for me, not even. But if my brake pads are screwed up I should probably get new ones. But I don't want to wrap or wreck my new rotors.

 

If you go to autozone or checker. They will show you the list of belts. You can pick from that. None of them are going to be that expensive but the more expensive will probably be a little better. Goodyear makes a belt called Gatorback. I dont know if they do it for mustangs but i put one on my best friends Ranger before he sold it. It was one of the more expensive ones. Your gonna want to change that sooner rather than later. I have had one snap on me and that total blows.

About the brake pads. I say get some then if you dont need them you can always take them back if you have the receipt.

 

Like a said, Car Quest has it, but they have no choice. So far w/ almost a grand on mine from them, the belt is silent. However, if Autozone does sell the Gatorback belts, those are great belts from what I hear. However, they probably are more expensive so your call.

 

What happens if the belt snaps? What does a aftermarket/better belt even do? LoL

Money isn't a problem. I'll ask AutoZone, because there website is being really stupid with Mustang parts now, after they re-did the whole website. *******