Fan belt seems to be slipping

[aphex]

2005 Mazda3 w/ about 130k miles

I noticed early in the morning and rainy days when leaving work, my fan belt seemingly starts to slip. It makes a loud squeal noise that usually stops after a few seconds.

Is this something I should go to the dealer for? Or would any decent local repair shop do?

 

[Billb2]

If you can't retention or install a fan belt yourself then the dealership is probably right for you.

But I doubt it's a fan belt slipping as newer cars use a serpentine belt and it is rare for those to slip.
It more likely is one of the devices that the belt drives that is failing and becoming hard to rotate.

 

[MadAmos]

Most likely it is a belt, if is is a manually adjusted serpentine belt they can and do slip. If this has been going on long a new belt may be needed as they can glaze and harden from the heat generated from slipping. It is usually very simple to adjust the belts and any decent shop should be able to tension them or replace a belt if needed.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

That is a lot of miles aphex...

Mine* has 130k on it and is 11 years old 🙂

And yes the belt needs tightening every so often otherwise it makes a horrid squealing noise for a few seconds after start up...

Edit: *My car

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb
That is a lot of miles aphex...

Mine* has 130k on it and is 11 years old 🙂

And yes the belt needs tightening every so often otherwise it makes a horrid squealing noise for a few seconds after start up...

Edit: *My car

The commute sucks but the traffic is fine, so we're used to it by now 🙂

Knock on wood, the cars been pretty darn good with minimal issues this whole time. I'll bring it by after work this week for tightening. Thanks!

 

[exdeath]

You don't have a fan belt, you have an electric fan.

It's most likely an idler pulley bearing or accessory like the power steering pump or alternator with 130k on it, but it could be the belt if it's the factory stock belt that has lasted that long. If it has a mirror like hard shine to it where the ribs are it's time to replace it.

Momentary belt sequel can also be a symptom of unrelated problems like a coolant or oil leak.

Edit: Just re-read and saw that you mentioned mornings and rainy days. It's just dew/moisture on the belt, it's nothing to worry about. It's time for a new belt, but that still may not completely eliminate all noise when you first start it under those conditions. Is it a low pitch chugging like squeal like rubber on metal or high pitch continuous resonant squeal like metal on metal? Idler bearings also make the most noise when they are cold, and go away after warmed up.

 

[dud]

Originally posted by: exdeath
You don't have a fan belt, you have an electric fan.

It's most likely an idler pulley bearing or accessory like the power steering pump or alternator with 130k on it, but it could be the belt if it's the factory stock belt that has lasted that long. If it has a mirror like hard shine to it where the ribs are it's time to replace it.

Momentary belt sequel can also be a symptom of unrelated problems like a coolant or oil leak.

Edit: Just re-read and saw that you mentioned mornings and rainy days. It's just dew/moisture on the belt, it's nothing to worry about. It's time for a new belt, but that still may not completely eliminate all noise when you first start it under those conditions. Is it a low pitch chugging like squeal like rubber on metal or high pitch continuous resonant squeal like metal on metal? Idler bearings also make the most noise when they are cold, and go away after warmed up.

What exdeath said. You have a front-wheel drive car with a trans-axially mounted engine/trans. The fan is mounted behind the radiator to pull in cool air. The squeal is prob from an accy belt.