03 Pro5 belt squeal

Every time I start my car after it has cooled down, I turn on my lights and/or my heat and a squealing noise comes from engine. Sometimes if I hold in the clutch for a few seconds it will stop but usually it won't stop til I get into 4th or 5th gear? any clue what it could be and how much to replace? New to mazdas and love my pro5 except for the embarrassing squeal

its one of the two drive belts...check online part stores, you can get OE quality belts for like $30 shipped...even cheaper sometimes...You can check the tension, and possibly tighten them...but if you are unaware of the last time they were replaced, might as well get two new belts...

Here are the sizes:

the alternator and water pump belt is a k040360
the AC and PS belt is a k050459

those are the factory sizes, and universal between belt makers...most go with something like high quality like Gates...but the price only really comes into play thousands of miles from now...you could use cheap ass belts and still be fine for 75k miles...

Be careful if tighten your belt. I on my fourth alternator in 3 years. The bearings kept going bad. The idiots at Canadian tire kept over-tightening the belt and strained the bearing. The alternator was replaced for free but I had to pay $108 for labor each time. I do all my own work now thanks to this site (even a timing belt). Apparently our cars have a very small pulley on the alternator with very little belt wrapped around it (some cars have idler wheels to wrap that belt better). I changed my own belts and alternator last time and had to tighten the belt a bit three times in about a month. I still get a squeak at start up or under heavy load and low RPM's but don't want to tighten it again. I wait until the car is warmed up a bit before I turn on the electrics (blower, wiper, headlights, defrost). Make sure you have the proper deflection in the belt.
6.5-7.5 mm for a new belt,.. 7.0-9 mm for a used belt (apparently only 5 minutes on a running engine makes it count as a used belt). Measure at the top of the belt between the alternator and water pump pulleys.

Or just twist it, if you can twist it more than half a turn tighten it, it should be around 1/4-1/2 turn play is what I've been told to go by

I like that idea. It sounds more precise than trying to reach a ruler in there and I don't have one of those special tools.

Installshield 2 said:

its one of the two drive belts...check online part stores, you can get OE quality belts for like $30 shipped...even cheaper sometimes...You can check the tension, and possibly tighten them...but if you are unaware of the last time they were replaced, might as well get two new belts...

Here are the sizes:

the alternator and water pump belt is a k040360
the AC and PS belt is a k050459

those are the factory sizes, and universal between belt makers...most go with something like high quality like Gates...but the price only really comes into play thousands of miles from now...you could use cheap ass belts and still be fine for 75k miles...

Click to expand...

+1

I like my gatorbacks, but I got an amazing deal on them. Just buy new ones and adjust them accordingly.