Protege5 Squealing after starting up

i had the same problem lately after changing the alt belts and alt. i brought back to the shop and they said it just need tighten it up a little bit more... sooo now everything's fine and hopefully same senerio on yours.
 
Can anyone tell me where the section on tightening the relevant belt is, in the service manual? I cant for the life of me, find what it is listed under in the index. Its not called a serpentine belt officially.

I am having the same issue. It was present before, then I had the belt changed because it was old and cracked. and now its worse with the new belt.

Only happens when cold. Once she gets going, no problem.

Anyone know what Id find this listed under in the service manual?
 
A new belt will stretch a bit over time and will need adjustment.
A good rule of thumb is to reach in and twist the belt,.. You should be able to stand it up sideways.
If you can't turn it sideways it's too tight (and it will strain your alternator bearing), if you can turn it upside down it's too loose.

It's really hard to reach in there with a ruler to measure the deflection.

 
It's almost certainly your alternator belt that's squealing, it's a common problem with our car.
Your power steering belt is probably fine.

Don't over tighten your belt,.. I went through 3 alternators when the mechanics over tightened it and wrecked my alternator bearing.
(I do my own work now)
 
This happened to me and it took YEARS to solve correctly (hint: over-tightening is not correct).

The P5 had two different A/C compressors depending on build date. They have different diameter pulleys. The OP had the same thing happen that I did, a mechanic changed the belts and got the wrong Power Steering & A/C belt. Then I did the same thing because most parts stores and ebay/amazon/etc only list the larger belt which intermittently squeals even when tightened to the point of damaging things.

Then I went to the Mazda dealership parts counter for a belt. There I watched the old pro teach his rookie how to look up part numbers using the VIN and ta-da! No more squealing with correct belt.

I have the Mazda part # at home, will post later tonight.
 
In my case it was the alternator belt.
It would squeal when I turned on the AC because the interior blower/fan was going which put more power drain on the alternator making the belt squeal.

I just tightened it up a bit recently because it was squealing too much.
I usually turn off all electrical loads when I start my car and if it squeals, I pull the P-brake one notch which turns off the daytime running lights.
Once the squealing stops I can turn everything back on and I'm good to go.

If the OP has squealing when electric loads are on, then it's probably his alternator belt making the noise.

PS.. A squealing belt glazes the belt making it more slippery and more inclined to slip and squeal.
 
The P5 had two different A/C compressors depending on build date. They have different diameter pulleys.

My car was built in Sept. of 2001 so I probably have the early version smaller pulley and the late version longer belt.
But it's been working fine for me ??
I've never heard a squeal from it, however, I rarely use the AC because I don't want to waste gas and we here in Canada live in igloos for more than half the year.. Then we use our snowmobiles and dogsled teams.

This is a picture of my PS adjuster bolt...
You can see it's pretty well maxed out.

 
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