Squealing burning smell? (1 Viewer)

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Jul 15, 2019
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dallas texas
Im pulling up to the drive way and i hear this very loud squeal over the sound of my music and even a burning smell coming from the engine. i know the timing belt was replaced at 240,000 miles back of august in 2018. could it be that time to replace the belt if Im only at 286,000? or could it be something else? i thought timing belts needed to be changed every 90k and its only been 45k. how do i know if its a serpentine belt or timing belt issue? am i dealing with something else? is it safe to drive back to my house which is only a 25-30 minute drive?
 
The question is to open ended. Need some detail. Like; open the hood and was louder and saw smoke on --- side.

Most common cause of this is e-brake not released. If sounds is only while rolling.

Only while braking and noticed ----.

Just when in gear and moving---.

Looked under hood and saw pulley wobbling.

Fan was jumping in and out.

Give use more to go on!
 
i went to the mechanic the other day for a minor squeal problem. he said something about a drive belt tensioner or a bushing needs to be replaced. i open my hood and definitely notice a smell of burning rubber. i rubbed a bit on the one of the belt and it even smelt burnt when i smelled my finger. brakes and e brake are good, fan seems study and not wobbly, i noticed minor squealing when idling but it comes and goes... now it just went screaming with a burning smell to go along with it.
 
i went to the mechanic the other day for a minor squeal problem. he said something about a drive belt tensioner or a bushing needs to be replaced. i open my hood and definitely notice a smell of burning rubber. i rubbed a bit on the one of the belt and it even smelt burnt when i smelled my finger. brakes and e brake are good, fan seems study and not wobbly, i noticed minor squealing when idling but it comes and goes... now it just went screaming with a burning smell to go along with it.
You have a bearing in a pulley that is no longer turning very well and is about to seize. The belt is sliding across it instead of the pulley rotating with the belt, and the Belt will break soon. Likely an idler or tensioner pulley.
 
Likely idler and tensioner bearings are shot. If one of those bearings freezes up, belt can burn up. This can cause over heating, loss of power steering, loss of battery charging. In rare occasions, belt raps up and punches through time belt cover and can knock timing belt off.

Smelling burning is concerning. It suggest a bearing has frozen. Look at with engine running. If both idler and tension pulleys turning with belt, drive home. If either not turning, it's risky to run engine!
 
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Smelling burning and smoke from under the hood- your belt has already started burning through.

You need to get that bearing replaced and a new belt on there before you do any more driving. You can theoretically drive without the belt, assuming your coolant temps didn't skyrocket. But, you're going to be limited by how much electrical power you can get out of the battery before it goes caput.

Recommend you have it towed to a shop to have that done.

@sammybones just had this same problem, but we didn't have the luxury of being in the driveway 😄
 
i appreciate the feedback you guys. I'm still learning and ill probably start a maintenance list of things to replace before i hit the 300,000 mile mark to avoid things like this from happening in the future. (spark plugs, fluids, etc) ive seen one i believe in the FAQ section so ill do that. ill have a tow truck come tomorrow morning and take it to the shop.
 
You have a bearing in a pulley that is no longer turning very well and is about to seize. The belt is sliding across it instead of the pulley rotating with the belt, and the Belt will break soon. Likely an idler or tensioner pulley.


Yup, happened to me. 4 days of squeal and then "snap".
 
Smelling burning and smoke from under the hood- your belt has already started burning through.

You need to get that bearing replaced and a new belt on there before you do any more driving. You can theoretically drive without the belt, assuming your coolant temps didn't skyrocket. But, you're going to be limited by how much electrical power you can get out of the battery before it goes caput.

Recommend you have it towed to a shop to have that done.

@sammybones just had this same problem, but we didn't have the luxury of being in the driveway 😄

A LC without power steering, particularly at low speeds is incredibly unsafe and very, very difficult to steer.

The belt and idlers takes 30 minutes to replace. Just pull the belt and start spinning pulleys until you find the culprits.

If you have it towed make sure they know it's a full-time 4x4 vehicle and it needs to be flat bed or flat tow.
 
A LC without power steering, particularly at low speeds is incredibly unsafe and very, very difficult to steer.

The belt and idlers takes 30 minutes to replace. Just pull the belt and start spinning pulleys until you find the culprits.

If you have it towed make sure they know it's a full-time 4x4 vehicle and it needs to be flat bed or flat tow.

Incredibly unsafe is excessive. Believe it or not, we lived many years with large vehicles without power steering. I grew up driving NAPCO Suburbans on 35"+ tires, and managed just fine with my 14 year old arms. For the sake of getting somewhere safe, there's not really an issue. I also just pulled a 100 off of a mountain with no PS. It sucked for the guy in the dead LC, but not a big deal. Presumably, if one were to limp a car home in this kind of condition, it would be done outside of busy travel times to minimize stopping in traffic and keep momentum so it's not such a task to turn the wheel.
 
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