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Cummins HO Squeaky Belt or Pulley

thrust said:
What would be the best way to accomplish this, a wire brush perhaps? The crank pulley is ribbed so sandpaper wouldn't work. Honestly, I doubt I'll pull the belt off again until someone confirms this eliminates the problem.

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Just asking because I saw a service order someone posted that STAR told a dealer to do this.
 
I’ve spent quite a bit of time trying to identify the root cause of this chirping noise after engine start. I believe that I’ve located the cause (on my truck at least) so I thought I’d share. Just to be clear, my truck would only make the chirping noise after engine start. The noise would go away after the engine warmed up for a couple or few minutes.

At first, I changed the original belt and tensioner for a Gates belt and tensioner. That worked for about 1200 miles but the same noise returned. I replaced the idler pulley as well with a Gates idler pulley. No change. Still chirped. I cleaned all of the pulleys. All pulleys were aligned and the belt was installed correctly. Still chirped. I applied a small amount of water to the belt and that silenced the sound immediately until the water dried.
Then the chirping would return again.

As suggested a couple of times earlier in this thread, I now believe that the sound is being caused by paint on the crankshaft pulley but I haven’t been able to prove it yet. At some point I’ll take the belt off again and remove the paint from that pulley.

As a temporary band aid, I put a small dab of dielectric grease (silicone paste) on the ribbed part of the belt and the noise has disappeared for the last 1,000 miles and for multiple cold starts. I’m surprised at how long it has lasted. I know that some won’t agree with this method but its working better than anything else has so far!


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Hey I just wanna get in and say I have this issue and have spent multiple trips to the dealer. Chrysler actually tried to redesign the 2018 belt and the put that on my truck to try and get the noise to go away. The prototype belt failed and stretched. I get the noise after about 1500 miles after they change the belt. I too have put dielectric grease on both sides of my belt and that makes the noise go away. I tried belt dressing and it did nothing. I'm not interested in taking my truck back to the dealer until some permanent solution is found. I find it hard to believe Chrysler can't figure this out it seems to be a good number of trucks.

2019 3500 SRW SO Screenshot_20210214-160516_Notepad Free.jpg
 
What's the downside to using dielectric grease other than the obvious increased likelihood of slippage?

This noise is nuts and I'm getting ready to get rid of the truck if I can't find a solution soon.

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thrust said:
What's the downside to using dielectric grease other than the obvious increased likelihood of slippage?

This noise is nuts and I'm getting ready to get rid of the truck if I can't find a solution soon.

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That's where I'm at I was/am ready to dump the truck if they can't figure this out. I'm not sure what all the downsides are however I put a ton on the belt on both sides. The belt hasn't slipped or anything that I've noticed. A guy I've been talking to on FB said he put alittle on at first and it only kept it quiet for a couple days. Then he put alot on and it hasn't made any noise in a few weeks. I'm just hoping Ram/Chrysler fixes this soon. Looking forward to see what other people say about the grease myself I know he said he was reading up on it. He found that big rig drivers put it on there's belts to help keep them quiet. 20210307_094759.jpg
 
After the recent messages, I put the dielectric grease on my belt. The noise went away. I used a minimal amount only on the ribbed side.

To me, this is still a band-aid fix and not suitable as a solution.



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TheBackRoads said:
I wanted to update everyone. 3rd time to the dealer they replaced the belt again, but saw this on my slip. "Contacted STAR. STAR states to clean the paint off the crank pulley. Cleaned paint off the crank pulley and replaced the belt due to residue being on belt" So far ~1000 miles later still quiet.

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Wanted to update, still quiet after this fix from the dealer, 8,000 miles on the odo now, 3100 since fix above.
 
TheBackRoads said:
Wanted to update, still quiet after this fix from the dealer, 8,000 miles on the odo now, 3100 since fix above.
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I find it hard to believe that that's what's causing it. However please keep us updated if u hear anything or even if u don't. I contacted my dealer about that yesterday waiting to hear back!
 
225echo said:
I find it hard to believe that that's what's causing it. However please keep us updated if u hear anything or even if u don't. I contacted my dealer about that yesterday waiting to hear back!
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I hear ya, I left the counter and said "hope you ordered more belts, I'll be back!" But it's been ok since. Did you want a bigger picture from the paper?
 
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I wanted to let everyone know I contacted FCA about the paint on the crank pully to see if they would do my truck. After 4 days they got back to me she told me she contacted star and star is now saying not to remove paint from the crank pully. Apparently it's doing more harm then good something about the powder coat helps hold the belt on. Anyways I just wanted to report what was told to me by FCA she said they are still working on a fix.
 
Cummins3 said:
noise came back today didn't solve it
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Try some dielectric grease I know it's not a perment fix but I put some on 2 weeks ago and not a peep since.... I'll just apply as needed till someone comes up w something permanent fix
 
I’d say just let it chirp. It’s not hurting anything. Just check the belt every so often to make sure it’s not fraying or getting damaged. Don’t use grease, or strip paint or any of that other nonsense. It’s annoying yes, but wait till there is a fix. Upgrade to a gates tensioner and belt just to have a piece of mind in quality and call it good until Ram comes up with something.


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225echo said:
Try some dielectric grease I know it's not a perment fix but I put some on 2 weeks ago and not a peep since.... I'll just apply as needed till someone comes up w something permanent fix
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I did the same about 4 weeks ago and not a single unusual sound since. It only took a very small amount. A blob about the width of a nickel is all I used. I applied it to the grooved side of the belt only. Started the truck and let it run for a minute then shut it down.


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clawdog79 said:
I did the same about 4 weeks ago and not a single unusual sound since. It only took a very small amount. A blob about the width of a nickel is all I used. I applied it to the grooved side of the belt only. Started the truck and let it run for a minute then shut it down.


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Ditto. Small amount of dielectric grease and no noise.

If it begins to squeak again, off the cliff she goes!

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This is bullc**p. Why hasn’t FCA figured out what’s wrong. No matter what you replace the chirp and squeak won’t go away!!!!!

Not to mention the host of other problems we’ve had with the 2019-2021. Ram is about to become the worst rated truck at this rate! Keep it up FCA/Ram you’re going to loose lots of business.


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