A couple or 3 questions

[svlsmokey]

I bought my M1028 back in March and made the trip home without incident. In the last few weeks I've noticed a lot of squealing belt noise when its cold. After 10 - 15 minutes at highway speeds it diminishes quite a bit but its still there. The belt to the driver's side alternator was loose so I tightened that up (also replaced the belt) but with no improvement. The belt tension on the main pulley and the passenger side alternator seem tight but the passenger side alternator still seems to be making the noise. Ideas? New belts needed? Alternator mount bent?

It's also gotten harder to start. Have to pump the throttle while its turning over and even then it sometimes takes 2 tried (even in warmer weather).

And one more item - It was suggested to me that I add 2 cycle engine oil to the fuel to compensate for the low surfer content in today's diesel fuel - 1 ounce per gallon. I can't find 2 cycle oil in bulk anywhere around here. Will any other product work?

Thanks - Sam

 

[Cucvnut]

you try changing the glow plugs and fuel filter ?

 

[83k30]

the noise could be a waterpump bearing going out

 

[SmokeyDod]

Could one of your belts be worn so thin that it is "bottoming out" in the pulley groove? It can wear so narrow that sides won't seat out & thus start slipping. Also when you start to tighten the p/s belt and then tighten the other driver side alt. you may loosen up a little the p/s belt. There are some instructions on proper way to do this to prevent this problem. Hope this might help.

It really don't help to "pump" the accelerator while trying to crank. Read note on back of your driver side sun visor.

 

[pa.rich]

Get a new belt. They get glazed and hard .10 bucks

 

[emr]

Your engine will run fine and forever with the cleaner fuel.

 

[SmokeyDod]

After reading your post again, you seem to had 3 problems:
1) Loose driver side alt. which you fixed
2) Belt squealing sound
3) Hard to start

2) Since you replaced & the belt & tightened up the alt., that side should be fixed as long as when you were tightening that belt, you did not put too much pressure on the power steering pump to loosen that V belt. You can look at it & press down on the middle of it with your finger (WHILE ENGINE SHUTOFF). You should be able to depress it approx. 1/4".

You say the pass. side belt may be squealing. If it is tight and belt is in good cond. , it very well could be the bearing in the alt. on that side. If it goes out they usually will squeal also. Some time a cooling fin on the alt may get bent and the scrub the front of the alt. and that can also make a squealing sound. As for as a mounting bracket being bent, all you need to do is start engine and go to side and simply look at the alignment of the belts. If they look misaligned they check out where it's coming from. Check these out to see if something don't look right.

As to your hard starting, what "CucvFreek" say is probally correct. But before I would buy all new glow plugs, I would check ea one to see if it was good or bad. Some guys check it with ohm meter but I simply take them all out (10mm socket) & ck ea. one to see if it works or not. The way I check it is get a 8-12" wire (14-16ga) and skin off 1/2" off ea end. I take one end of the wire and wrap it around the "spade" end of the GP, then go to a 12v battery and let the part of the glow plug where the threads are touch the pos. terminal of battery and while holding the spade end w/wire wrapped around it, I then with other hand hold the other end of the wire and touch it to the neg. post of battery. If the GP is good you should see a "slight" spark where you touch it and the GP should start heating up in 5-10 secs even to point of getting cherry red. If GP is bad, you won't see the spark nor will it heat up at all.
"BE SURE TO HOLD THE WIRE AROUND THE SPADE END "FIRMLY" OR ELSE YOU MAY GET A WARM SENSATION ON YOUR FINGERS.

I would just replace ones that are "BAD" as they are $8-10 ea. If they are okay, then you need to get into checking your glowplug solonoid or why they are not getting voltage to them.

 

[Crash_AF]

Pumping the throttle will not do anything, it only regulates the amount of fuel delivered while the pump operates. It would be like pumping the fuel on a fuel injected vehicle, all it does is open and closes the butterfly valve on the throttle body, not like squirting more fuel in on a carb'd vehicle.

As far as the squealing belt, doublecheck the mounts as they might be cracked or broken.

You might want to get some belt dressing and squirt it on the pulleys to see if it is the belt that's squealing or the bearings. Also, the quality of the belts seems to make a difference in how much belt squeal there is. The Goodyear Gatorback belts seem to be the best at reducing or eliminating squeal.

Later,
Joe

 

[svlsmokey]

The idea of adding oil to the fuel was to prolong the life of the seals in the fuel pump.

 

[1stSarge]

Batteries. Just another thought, bad, low, worn out batteries will create a huge drag on the alternators as they try to quickly charge on first startup. Sometimes making the belts squeal. But then they quiet down as the charge equalizes.