I’ve got a 1999 Honda Civic hatchback which just had its 60,000 mile maintenance checkup - no problems. Great little car, everything’s been fine.
Well, almost everything. Lately when I start the car after it’s been raining for a while, the engine makes a lot of squealing/squeaking noises. These seem to be coming from the belts, and gradually fade away over about half an hour of driving. The effect is intermittent, but appears to happen consistently whenever my wife is in the car with me. She’s convinced this is a sign the car needs major service, and Bad Things will happen if it’s left like this. We did have the belts tightened once in the past, when they started squeaking a bit on wet days, and had them tightened by the dealer - which turned out to be a mistake, as they over-tigntened them and the steering pump starting making funny noises until I went back and had them re-adjust the tension.
Other information - We live in a condo development, so parking the car out of the rain is not an option. Most of the trips I take in the car are very short - my commute to work is about 5 miles, and I only drive for more than half an hour maybe once a week.
My question: other than noise, does having belts which squal when it’s wet pose an actual danger of further damage to the engine, or is this something I can safely ignore until it’s time to take the car in for a major checkup again? And if it’s a matter of re-tensioning or replacing the belts, is it something I can fix myself rather than having to pay to have it done? I’m pretty handy with tools and have worked on engines before.
As you surmised, the wet weather is causing your belts to slip. This is an annoying but mostly harmless problem…unless the slipping belt causes power loss to the power steering: thats a bit scary at that moment.
Once the engine warms up and the slipping of the belt causes friction heat to dry the belt and pulleys, the squealing will stop.
I think they make some kid of belt dressing which waterproofs the belts and pulleys and prevents squealing in wet weather…ask the people at Pep Boys, AutoZone, or whatever car store is in your area.
30 seconds of belt squeal doesn’t alarm me. 30 minutes of it does. Properly tensioned belts in good condition don’t squeal in wet weather. Something is amiss.
One possible consequence is the alternator undercharging the battery. You don’t want to be there on the cold, snowy morning when that results in the car not starting.
This is easy to deal with. The first step is to inspect the belts and their tension. If they appear good, but aren’t tight enough, tighten them. If the belts appear worn, or still squeal when properly tightened, replace them.
It’s not a particularly difficult job, though the access to some key nuts or bolts may present a knotty challenge. It’s important to adjust them to the right degree of tightness. Belt tension for modern multi-ribbed belts is different from that for V-belts. If in doubt, get someone who knows what he’s doing (not someone who just THINKS he knows what he’s doing) to check the tension for you.
If you’re sure it’s the belts, and not the power steering to begin with (have you checked the power steering fluid?), I would say just go ahead and replace them, obviously frayed or not. They could just be cheap belts.
Sometimes belts can lose their elasticity without it being obvious.