How’s it going ? My son has a 85 cutlass with a 307 in it I believe .. his belts are squeaking not sure which one it is .. anyone have info on how to remove and instal new ones ?

 

Welcome. More likely your problem is an incorrectly adjusted power steering pump. This comes up about once a month here.

There are THREE fasteners that you need to loosen to adjust the belt, the two bolts on the front and the one nut at the bottom rear of the pump. Once you loosen all three, use a large screwdriver as a pry bar and insert it between the nose of the pump and the tab on the bracket, between the pulley and the bracket. The photo shows the proper position of the screwdriver with the pulley removed for clarity. Use the screwdriver to tension the belt while tightening the two bolts on the front, then get the nut on the back. Failure to do this properly is why there are frequent posts about belts squealing.

 

Release the tension on the alternator belt before tightening the PS belt. Follow Joe’s instructions and it won’t be a puzzle, rather a straightforward process.

Good luck!!!

 

With an 85 Cutlass Y engine, you likely have the water pump to alternator belt and a single groove PS pump pulley if it's factory. AIR pump belts hardly squeal (but sometimes the pumps do) and A/C compressor belts hardly ever make noise unless it's engaged. So that narrows it down to the two most likely candidates. Alternator or PS belt. That's where my money is. As Joe P mentioned, the PS belt not being tightened properly when new belts are installed is a common error because of the unconventional methods used to install them doesn't guarantee it's tight enough. Belt stretches then starts to slip. Alternator should be easier to adjust if necessary because it has a jack bolt on it. Loosen the alternator and use the jack bolt to tighten, then lock everything down.

An easy way to find out which belt may be squealing, is take a spritz of WD-40 on a rag and wipe it on the V side of the belt for a good portion WITH THE ENGINE OFF. Pick one. Don't go crazy, you only want to do it for ONE belt at a time. Meaning one belt, then start the car. When the squeal goes away, there's your squeaky belt. Then readjust as needed. If you don't want to do it that way, then you need to check all the belts for deflection. You should be able to determine which belt is loose by pressing on the longest section of the belt. You shouldn't be able to deflect it more than about 1/2". You also don't want to get them too tight either as you could overload bearings in the belt-driven components.

Arguably the best way is to use a belt tension gage, but not everyone wants to buy one of those when it's not absolutely necessary to keep a belt from squealing.

 

Thanks everybody for the advice .. I will try those things and let you guys know 👍🏻