Okay, so I had the drive belts changed on TJ number 2. Afterwards I noticed that if I turned the steering wheel to lock either way there was this mouse squeak coming from the power steering pump. So I go back to the mechanic...he readjusts the belts and tops up the power steering fluid and the noise goes away. Two days later the noise comes back, intermittently. Sometimes I hear it on lock one way and not the other, and then vice-versa.

I'm thinking of putting some power steering anti-leak and "quietening" fluid in the reservoir to see if that makes a difference. Reason is that I can see a tiny leak of oil from the power steering pump assembly. Any ideas??

Is the belt sitting properly on the pulley, ie. not one rib out? Try spraying some water on the belt and see if the noise goes away. I wouldn't put any additives in.

The noise comes from the belt, not the pump. No point adding anything to the fluid.
The belt is either loose, very old and hardened, or it is not on the pulleys correctly.

Check that last bit yourself very carefully, if it is one rib out, the belt will self destruct and can damage a lot of other things too, potentially.

If your mechanic is an older bloke he may not be aware how tight these ribbed belts need to be to work correctly.
Then again, it is not unusual to need to tighten them after a short period having put on new belts.

The noise may be coming from one of the belt idlers, all depends on km on the car - get your mechanic to check for that possibility.

Since the drive belts were changed (presumed with new ones) its probably a belt tightening issue.
Mine did something similar viz no squeeks initially, but after a couple of weeks it started to squeek only on first start in the morning.
Needed a bit more alternator belt adjusting, as the belt tension has dropped just a little bit.

Just take note of the points MadMax makes about other possibilities

Go back and see the person that did the belts. They will fix it in a few minutes. Belt will been tightening a tad.

Thanks for the replies to all. Funny thing is that I did go back after a day or two and the guy did retension the belts and the squeak went away...then it came back. I've got to book the thing for an oil change in the next week or so and I'll get him to retension the belts again.

Thanks for the replies to all. Funny thing is that I did go back after a day or two and the guy did retension the belts and the squeak went away...then it came back. I've got to book the thing for an oil change in the next week or so and I'll get him to retension the belts again.

Find out what brand of belt he has used. Sounds like its stretching.

Proper tensioning of the belt is easiest done with a tension gauge.
Without a gauge (often DIY!) it may require a few adjustments to get the belt tight enough not to squeel but loose enough to minimise load on the pulleys.
Its bound to stretch a bit from new, so might just be a case of zeroing in on the final needed belt tension.

Backyard tension test: Locate the longest run of each belt (under the car), push with all your thumb strength(*), belt should deflect only 1 cm.

(*) Bathroom scales tell me that is 10 Kg.

Factory method: Microphone, oscilloscope. Tighten belt, "twang" it like a guitar string, adjust until you get the right frequency of twang on the oscilloscope.

Backyard tension test: Locate the longest run of each belt (under the car), push with all your thumb strength(*), belt should deflect only 1 cm.

(*) Bathroom scales tell me that is 10 Kg.


Given that you have to jack the car up onto stands, remove the drivers side wheel and remove the plastic guard just to adjust the belts it is worth taking a more scientific approach.

98 Newtons is the correct force (aprox. 10kg). The easiest way I find to get this is to hang a 10kg weigh from the belt with some string then measure the deflection with a ruler. I use an exercise free weight as it is exacty 10kg. You could also use luggage scales to measure 10kg but this is trickier to get then just hanging a weight. A new belt is tightened up more than an old belt to compensate for it streching. Its all in the manual.

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