Squeal when AC is on
 

Recently, whenever my AC is on, it makes this horrible squealing sound. It immediately stops if I turn of the AC (press the AC button and the green light goes out) or if I turn the vent speed to zero, all the way counter clockwise.

Any ideas on where to start looking?

I searched the forums for a while and couldn't find anything that sounded like my issue, but I could have not been using the correct words.

Also, I had a similar (almost exact) issue on my 1999 Nissan Frontier. For that, it turned out (after taking it into the shop several times), that the AC unit needs some more oil. And this was after replacing all of the belts.

Re: Squeal when AC is on
 

This complaint is usually caused by a loose belt.

Re: Squeal when AC is on
 

yup tighten your belt up there's a wingnut around the alternator that tightens the belt.

Re: Squeal when AC is on
 

belts. common. to any car.

Re: Squeal when AC is on
 

after you tighten is, you might want to spray some belt conditioner on it to clean it up.

also WD40 works as well.

Re: Squeal when AC is on
 

Bad advice IMHO; Belts are supposed to be dry. No oils of any kind, that can drastically shorten the life of the belt.

Tighten if the belt is good, replace if the belt is bad. Clean and dry. (water is not harmful though)

Re: Squeal when AC is on
 

I am having the sane issue, we have to tighten the belt every month it seems. We've changed belts once already and they keep coming loose. Any idea on that?

Re: Squeal when AC is on
 

(Assuming it's the alternator and AC belt on a 7th gen car)
Some things come to mind:



Alternator hardware wasn't tightened properly allowing the alternator to slowly move, belt now loosens as the alternator moves inward

Cheapo belt, some of them tend to stretch after installation

Contamination (oil), leaking power steering pump or something?

Belt simply wasn't tight enough to begin with




HTH

Re: Squeal when AC is on
 

I'll check the alternator. Thanks. Also,.doubt It's a cheap belt. We bought the most expensive belt they had.

Re: Squeal when AC is on
 

My use of the term 'cheapo' has little to do with retail price.